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Map  of  Palo  Alto  County,  Iowa 


History  of  Palo  Alto  County  Iowa 


BY 

DwiGHT  G.  Mccarty 


^ 


THE  TORCH   PRESS 

CEDAR  RAPIDS,  IOWA 

1910 


ff^l^^ 


THE    TORCH    PRESS 

CEDAR    RAPIDS 

IOWA 


TO  MY  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  WHOSE  SELF- 
SACRIFICE  AND  LOVING  ENCOURAGEMENT  HAVE 
BEEN  THE  INSPIRATION  FOR  THE  BEST  IN  LIFE 
THIS  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED 


209728 


CONTENTS 


Preface 
Chapter 

I 

Introduction  — ' '  Westward  ' ' 

7 
10 

Chapter 

II 

The  West  Bend  Settlement 

15 

Chapter 

III 

The  Irish  Colony    . 

22 

Chapter 

IV 

The  Indians  and  the  Spirit  Lake 

Mas- 

SACBE     

27 

Chapter 

V 

The  Relief  Expedition  . 

33 

Chapter 

VI 

New  Settlers 

42 

Chapter 

VII 

Early  Speculative  County-seats 

58 

Chapter 

VIII 

The    Political    Organization    of 

the 

County         .... 

62 

Chapter 

IX 

The  Call  to  Arms  . 

74 

Chapter 

X 

A  Decade  of  Growth 

80 

Chapter 

XI 

The  "Old  Town"    . 

107 

Chapter 

XII 

The  New  Emmetsburg    . 

123 

Chapter  XIII 

The  Period  of  Development 

135 

Chapter 

XIV 

Rise  of  the  County  Towns     . 

.      145 

Chapter 

XV 

Our  Modern  County 

156 

Appendices 

.       159 

Index 

169 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


Map  of  Palo  Alto  County,  Iowa 

A.  B.  Carter 

W.  D.  Powers 

John  McCormick 

Mr,  and  Mrs.  Jas.  Nolan 

Edward  and  Margaret  Mahan 

John  Neary 

P.  R.  Jackman 

LoTT  Laughlin 

John  J.  Mahan 

Chas.  T.  Nolan 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jas.  Hickey    . 

Mrs.  Maggie  Hickey-McNally 

M.  H  Crowley 

J.  P.  Crowley 

MYiiES  Mahan      .        .        . 

Martin  Coonan    . 

Mrs.  Catherine  Coonan 

Thos.  Tobin  .... 

J.  L.  Martin 

F.  Van  Gorden 
P.  McBvoy 

F.  Dickinson    . 

W.  Ballard 
The  "Old  Town"  op  Emmetsburg 
Threshing  for  Martin  Coonan  in 
Geo.  B.  McCarty 
T.  W.  Harrison 


Rev.  J.  J.  Smith 

Alex.  Peddie 

M.  F.  Kerwick 

M.  L.  Brown 

W.  J.  Brown 

Pat  Joyce     . 

The  New  Town  op  Emmetsburg  in 

Emmetsburg  in  1881    . 

The  Present  Emmetsburg 

E.  S.  Ormsby 

Palo  Alto  County  Court  House 


frontispiece 
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1871 


1878 


PEEFACE 

At  the  time  of  the  celebration  of  the  Semi-Centennial  of 
Palo  Alto  County,  at  Emmetsburg,  Iowa,  in  July,  1906,  I 
was  asked  to  prepare  a  short  history  and  list  of  old  settlers 
for  the  souvenir  program  distributed  by  the  committee. 
The  preparation  of  that  sketch  led  me  deep  into  the  be- 
ginnings of  the  county,  and  the  interest  then  incited  has 
continued  to  grow  as  the  researches  progressed.  More- 
over, there  has  been  a  deepening  consciousness  that  it  is 
our  sacred  duty  to  preserve  by  historical  record  the  events 
and  traditions  of  the  past.  The  intrepid  pioneers  who 
fought  the  battles  of  the  frontier  in  the  early  days  are  fast 
passing  away  and  with  them  the  precious  storehouse  of 
human  acts  and  achievements  so  vital  to  any  history.  We 
cannot  longer  delay  giving  justice  to  whom  justice  is  due 
and  preserve  for  posterity  the  record  of  those  who  in  the 
vanguard  of  progress  made  possible  what  we  now  enjoy. 

During  the  four  years  that  have  elapsed  since  begin- 
ning this  work,  I  have  used  many  spare  moments  and 
much  of  my  vacation  time  in  preparing  this  history.  The 
gathering  of  material  has  entailed  a  larger  amount  of 
hard  work  and  patient  research  than  at  first  contemplated ; 
and  the  writing  and  publication  of  the  book  has  been  com- 
pressed into  a  few  months  and  crowded  to  completion  for 
fear  that  the  constantly  increasing  distractions  of  a  busy 
practice  might  soon  prevent  any  further  work  upon  it  be- 
fore its  consummation.  No  one  is  more  aware  of  the  im- 
perfections of  the  book  than  the  author  and  it  is  too  much 
to  hope  that  there  are  no  inaccuracies.  But  it  has  been 
my  purpose  to  give  as  completely  and  accurately  as  pos- 
sible the  history  of  our  county.    I  have  tried  to  be  fair 


8  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

and  impartial.  No  labor  has  been  spared  to  make  the  facts 
thoroughly  trustworthy  and  reliable  in  every  detail.  Ref- 
erences and  explanations  in  footnotes  have  been  given 
whenever  practicable.  But  throughout  it  all  the  aim  has 
been  to  keep  the  thread  of  human  interest,  the  personal 
touch  that  makes  life  worth  living  and  history  worth  read- 
ing. 

The  big  1906  Semi- Centennial  celebration,  lasting  three 
days,  bringing  together  as  it  did  the  old  settlers  and  re- 
newing forgotten  associations,  brought  to  light  many  val- 
uable reminiscences  and  stories  of  the  early  days.  An 
autograph  register  of  all  visitors,  with  the  date  of  coming 
to  the  county,  was  a  feature  of  the  Old  Settlers '  Day  and 
has  since  been  permanently  bound,  together  with  the  ac- 
count of  the  proceedings  and  other  historical  matter,  and 
forms  a  valuable  record  for  future  reference.  Yet  it  is  a 
lamentable  fact  that  much  valuable  historical  material 
has  been  lost  and  destroyed.  The  most  careful  search  and 
extensive  inquiry  among  the  old  settlers  has  not  reveal- 
ed a  single  copy  of  the  old  Democrat,  published  at  Soda 
Bar  in  1869,  nor  of  the  Palo  Alto  Advance,  published  in 
the  Old  Town  in  1870,  nor  of  the  Palo  Alto  Patriot,  pub- 
lished in  1873,  nor  of  the  Enterprise,  issued  for  a  short 
period  about  the  same  time.  A  partial  file  and  one  or  two 
odd  copies  of  the  Pilot,  published  in  1874,  have  come  to 
light.  Complete  files  of  the  Reporter  and  the  later  papers 
have  been  rescued  from  oblivion  in  old  cellars,  barns  and 
attics.  I  have  tried  in  vain  to  find  a  copy  of  J.  L.  Martin 's 
sketch  of  early  county  history,  published  many  years  ago ; 
and  even  the  manuscript  of  that  little  book  is  now  lost.  We 
have  waited  until  too  late  to  begin  the  preservation  of  the 
valuable  records  of  the  early  days.  In  fact  in  a  very  few 
years  there  would  have  been  no  survivors  of  the  first  days 
left  to  tell  the  romantic  tales  now  recorded  in  these  pages. 

In  writing  this  book,  I  have  relied  much  upon  public 


PREFACE  9 

records,  documents,  letters,  diaries,  newspapers,  books, 
printed  reminiscences,  and  other  sources  of  this  kind. 
But  while  this  has  formed  the  framework,  the  real  body 
of  the  narrative  has  come  from  the  old  settlers  them- 
selves. Many  of  them  have  very  courteously  written  let- 
ters and  statements  of  their  recollections,  and  others 
have  told  me  many  interesting  facts  and  incidents  of  the 
early  days.  Often  I  have  had  long  interviews  with  them, 
while  our  talk  was  taken  verbatim  in  shorthand  and  tran- 
scribed for  later  use  and  permanent  record.  It  is  in  this 
way  that  the  history  has  developed. 

I  am  deeply  grateful  for  the  helpful  co-operation  of  the 
large  niunber  who  have  assisted  me.  Without  the  aid  of 
many  friends  among  the  old  settlers,  my  work  would  have 
been  in  vain.  It  is  my  one  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able 
to  talk  to  more  of  these  rugged  veterans  of  an  early  day. 

It  is  impossible  to  express  in  detail  my  deep  obligations 
to  the  many  who  have  so  generously  assisted  me  in  this 
work,  and  I  must  refer  to  the  footnotes  for  more  special 
acknowledgment. 

''  In  all  that  is  good  Iowa  affords  the  best.*'  We  are 
proud  of  the  rich,  fertile,  progressive  county  of  Palo 
Alto  —  the  very  best  in  a  grand  state.  And  if  this  little 
book  shall  increase  our  love  and  contentment  here  at  home, 
and  at  the  same  time  perpetuate  the  memory  and  worthy 
achievements  of  our  illustrious  pioneers,  it  shall  have  ac- 
complished its  intended  mission  and  perhaps  be  worthy 
of  a  place  in  the  archives  of  our  country. 


CHAPTEE  I 

Introduction  —  Westward ! 

The  '  *  Westward  Movement ' '  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant facts  in  American  history.  Starting  with  a  little 
fringe  of  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  settlements 
began  to  spread  gradually  westward,  ever  westward,  to- 
ward the  setting  sun.  The  dangers  and  hardships  of  pio- 
neer life  on  the  eastern  coast  were  met  and  overcome  in 
each  successive  stage  of  the  march  westward.  The  same 
kind  of  opportunities  and  difficulties,  colored  with  local 
variations,  recurred  to  make  the  strong  and  sturdy  growth 
from  frontier  simplicity  to  permanent  development.  It  is 
this  fact  that  has  given  a  distinctive  quality  to  American 
life  —  the  self-reliance,  courage  and  independence  which 
dominate  American  character.^  A  study  of  the  frontier, 
therefore,  will  give  us  the  key  to  our  history. 

Moreover,  the  genesis  of  any  settlement  will  show  the 
basis  and  character  of  development.  Many  distinctive 
characteristics  of  any  community  have  grown  out  of  pe- 
culiar conditions  or  incidents  in  its  early  history.  It  is 
this  frontier  life,  with  its  privations,  its  battles,  its  pleas- 
ures, its  government,  and  its  crude  experiments  and  com- 
promises, together  with  the  effects  of  natural  conditions 
and  environment,  that  discloses  the  very  beginnings  of  so- 
cial life.    We  must  study  these  frontier  beginnings  as  well 

1  Frederick  J.  Turner,  "Significance  of  the  Frontier  in  American  His- 
tory," Annual  Beport  American  Historical  Assn.,  1893,  200-201.  See  also 
McCarty,  ' '  Early  Social  and  Eeligious  Experiments  in  Iowa, ' '  Iowa  Histori- 
cal Jtecord,  January,  1902.  McCarty,  Territorial  Governors  of  the  Old 
Northwest. 


INTRODUCTION  —  WESTWARD !  11 

as  later  developments  if  we  would  appreciate  our  local 
history. 

Indeed  there  is  a  romantic  fascination  surrounding  the 
early  days  of  every  community.  We  listen  with  thrilling 
interest  to  the  stories  of  the  first  settlers,  as  they  recount 
the  hardships  and  dangers  of  home  making  on  the  bound- 
less prairie  of  a  new  country.  The  simple,  rugged  life  of 
these  early  pioneers  in  itself  has  a  charm  that  increases 
with  the  passing  of  the  frontier  line.  We  admire  the 
dauntless  pioneer  with  his  ax  and  gun.  We  admire  his 
persevering  labors  in  spite  of  obstacles  and  discourage- 
ment, and  we  admire  his  courage  in  the  face  of  every 
danger. 

On  through  forest  and  over  plain,  westward  and  ever 
westward  pressed  the  adventurous  and  hardy  pioneers. 
And  still  farther  westward,  on  over  the  trackless  prairie, 
where  the  elk,  deer,  and  other  wild  animals  roamed  at 
will,  and  where  occasional  bands  of  roving  Indians  had 
camped  and  hunted,  and  departed  unmolested.  Undaunt- 
ed by  the  most  severe  weather,  undismayed  by  the  perils 
and  hardships  of  a  long  journey,  they  pressed  forward 
through  the  wilderness,  leaving  their  own  trail  in  the  tall 
grass  of  the  prairie,  crossing  the  turbid  streams  as  best 
they  could,  exploring  the  woods  and  prairies,  ever  on  the 
lookout  for  a  good  location  for  their  new  home.  The 
frontier  line  was  gradually  moving  toward  the  west,  and 
these  pioneer  settlers  were  the  advance  guard  of  the  west- 
ward movement.  They  were  willing  to  undergo  all  the 
hardships  and  privations  of  frontier  life  in  order  that  they 
might  found  a  home  for  themselves  and  their  families.^ 

Midway  in  this  westward  march  was  Iowa  —  the  beau- 

1  See  the  writer's  "Early  Social  and  Eeligious  Experiments  in  Iowa," 
in  the  January,  1902,  number  of  the  Iowa  Historical  Record,  for  a  more 
complete  description  of  the  westward  movement  in  Iowa,  and  the  ex- 
periences of  the  early  pioneers  throughout  the  state. 


12  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

tiful  fertile  land  of  Iowa.  But  at  the  Mississippi  progress 
was  delayed  for  a  time,  as  Iowa  soil  was  owned  by  the  In- 
dians and  title  had  to  be  acquired  before  this  territory 
could  be  thrown  open  to  settlement.  Prior  to  this,  the 
mining  settlement  of  Dubuque  had  been  established  ^  and 
several  abortive  attempts  at  settlement  had  been  made 
but  they  were  not  permanent.  During  these  early  times 
trappers  and  Indian  traders  roamed  over  the  vast  prai- 
ries, camping,  hunting  and  trapping  on  the  banks  of 
streams  and  in  wooded  places ;  but  always  moving  and  al- 
ways pushing  farther  westward  ahead  of  the  settlers. 
They  were  only  skirmishers  scouting  ahead  of  the  real 
army  of  progress.  The  few  squatters  who  tried  to  find 
homes  were  driven  off  by  the  United  States  soldiers  until 
the  Indian  title  was  extinguished  and  the  country  finally 
opened  up  for  settlement,  June  1, 1833. 

Even  then  actual  title  was  not  given  until  years  later 
when  the  land  sales  were  held,  but  this  fact  did  not  deter 
actual  settlers,  who  flocked  into  Iowa  and  began  to  take 
up  the  most  advantageous  locations.  The  first  settlers 
chose  claims  along  the  rivers.  Burlington  and  Fort  Mad- 
ison were  settled  in  the  fall  of  1833.  Davenport  was  form- 
ally named  in  1836,  and  Keokuk  was  laid  out  in  1837.  As 
settlers  increased  and  pushed  westward,  other  towns  were 
formed.  Iowa  City  was  laid  out  on  the  banks  of  the  Iowa 
River  in  1839,  and  became  the  capital  of  the  territory. 
In  the  same  year  the  government  removed  the  Pottawat- 
tomie  Indians  to  Southwestern  Iowa  and  erected  a  fort  at 
Council  Bluffs.  Two  Catholic  missionaries  established  a 
mission  there,  but  it  was  a  frontier  outpost  for  some  years 
before  it  was  reached  by  actual  settlements.    In  1843  Fort 

1  Julian  Dubuque  in  1788  purchased  a  tract  of  land  from  the  Sac  and 
Fox  Indians  and  began  to  work  the  lead  mines.  Annals  of  Iowa,  April, 
1896,  330.  Salter,  Iowa,  the  First  Free  State  in  the  Louisiana  Purchase; 
Gue,  History  of  Iowa,  vol.  i,  chap.  10;  McCarty,  "Early  Social  and  Eeli- 
gious  Experiments  in  Iowa. ' ' 


INTRODUCTION  —  WESTWARD !  13 

Des  Moines  was  built  for  the  United  States  dragoons  for 
the  protection  of  the  frontier  from  the  Indian  depreda- 
tions. 

As  settlers  increased  and  the  hostile  Indians  became 
more  difficult  to  control,  a  fort  farther  north  was  estab- 
lished in  1849,  called  Fort  Clarke.  The  name  was  changed 
a  few  years  later  to  Fort  Dodge.  In  1853  the  troops 
were  moved  from  Fort  Dodge  north  to  Fort  Ridgely,  but 
the  vacated  site  was  purchased  and  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1854  the  town  of  Fort  Dodge  was  laid  out  and  there- 
after became  the  distributing  center  for  Northwest  Iowa. 

It  was  not  until  1854-5  that  the  vanguard  of  settlement 
spread  out  into  Northwestern  Iowa.  Prior  to  that  time 
there  were  only  two  cabins  north  of  Fort  Dodge,  that  of 
the  adventurous  Henry  Lott,  near  the  mouth  of  Lott's 
Creek  in  Humboldt  County,  and  one  built  by  William  Mil- 
ler six  miles  north  of  Fort  Dodge,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river.  These  were  rival  trading  posts  which  did  a  flourish- 
ing business  while  the  soldiers  were  at  Fort  Dodge.  Lott 
was  a  desperate  character  and  was  continually  stirring  up 
trouble  with  the  Indians.  The  Indians  were  inclined  to 
resent  the  encroachments  of  the  whites,  and  freely  in- 
dulged their  natural  trickery  in  attempts  at  despoiling  the 
settlers.  This  was  of  course  resisted  and  trouble  often 
followed.  These  frequent  clashes,  together  with  the  un- 
scrupulous conduct  of  such  men  as  Lott,  caused  a  deep- 
seated  resentment  among  the  redmen.  The  Indian  depre- 
dations increased  and  kept  the  settlers,  who  were  coming 
in,  continually  alarmed.  It  was  this  smoldering  resent- 
ment that  caused  much  of  the  trouble  in  the  years  that  fol- 
lowed, and  culminated  in  the  Spirit  Lake  massacre  of 
1857,  and  the  Indian  border  troubles  of  1862  and  1863. 
These  periods  will  be  more  fully  considered  in  later  chap- 
ters. 

In  the  face  of  such  conditions  as  these  the  early  settle- 


14  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

ment  of  Northwest  Iowa  began.  Traders,  locaters,  sur- 
veyors and  stray  settlers  all  carried  back  to  Fort  Dodge 
tales  of  the  marvelous  beauty  of  the  lands  along  the  east 
and  west  forks  of  the  Des  Moines  River.  During  the  sum- 
mer of  1854  Ambrose  A.  Call  and  Asa  C.  Call  built  the 
pioneer  cabin  in  Kossuth  County,  on  the  east  fork  of  the 
river,  and  that  summer  and  fall  a  colony  of  energetic  set- 
tlers took  claims  there.^ 

At  this  time  the  soil  of  Palo  Alto  had  not  been  trod  by  a 
permanent  settler.  History  records  one  incident  of  the 
early  march  across  the  prairies.  The  United  States  troops, 
on  their  removal  from  Fort  Dodge  in  1854,  marched  north 
to  Fort  Ridgely  and  their  course  took  them  along  the 
river.  One  evening  after  a  hard  day's  march,  they  came 
to  a  beautiful  little  lake  and  made  their  camp  in  an  oak 
grove  upon  the  shore.  A  terrible  storm  raged  that  night 
and  the  detachment  were  compelled  to  stay  there  several 
days  before  they  could  continue  their  northern  journey.  ^ 
In  spite  of  the  inclement  weather  we  cannot  but  believe 
that  those  gallant  soldiers  saw  the  beauties  around  them, 
for  they  were  in  Palo  Alto  County — the  first  arrivals 
upon  its  virgin  soil.  Its  beauties  and  fertility  could  not 
long  remain  unknown  and  the  time  was  soon  to  arrive 
for  the  first  settlement  of  the  county. 


1  Sketches  by  Ambrose  A.  Call  in  Algona  Upper  Des  Moines,  "  History 
of  Kossuth  County." 

2  William  D.  Powers,  letter  to  Semi-Centennial  Committee.     Gue,  History 
of  Iowa. 


CHAPTER  n 

The  West  Bend  Settlement 

The  first  settlement  in  Palo  Alto  County  was  made  in 
May,  1855.  William  Carter  and  son,  Fayette  Carter  and 
wife,  and  Jeremiah  Evans  and  family  selected  permanent 
claims  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Des  Moines  River  near 
where  West  Bend  now  stands.^  They  came  from  Benton 
Comity,  Iowa,  making  their  way  through  the  sparsely  set- 
tled country  by  slow-going  ox  teams,  and  from  Fort  Dodge 
following  the  dim  trail  to  the  northwest,  known  as  the 
' '  Military  Road. ' '  It  was  the  route  that  the  soldiers  had 
taken  in  going  north  to  Fort  Ridgely,  and  the  subsequent 
supply  wagons  had  left  their  marks  on  the  prairie  grass. 
Slight  and  uncertain  was  the  trail,  but  it  led  these  pioneers 
straight  to  their  new  home. 

Before  making  a  final  location  they  decided  to  look 
around  a  little  more,  and  went  farther  north,  camping  on 
May  30th  on  the  east  bank  of  Medium  Lake  in  what  is  now 
known  as  Jackman's  Grove.  As  it  was  late  in  the  season 
it  seemed  best  to  return,  and  early  the  next  morning  the 
settlers  retraced  their  steps  and  began  at  once  to  make  a 
permanent  settlement  at  West  Bend.  Samuel  McClelland, 
who  accompanied  them,  did  not  stay  but  returned  home. 
Carter  and  Evans  had  taken  adjoining  claims  on  a  beauti- 

1  These  facts  about  the  early  settlement  at  West  Bend  are  from  inter- 
views with  A.  B.  Carter,  and  from  a  letter  written  by  him  to  the  Semi- 
centennial Committee  May  12,  1906.  I  have  often  talked  to  Mr.  Carter 
and  listened  to  his  interesting  tales  of  those  early  days.  Some  important 
facts  are  corroborated  by  William  D.  Powers 's  letters  to  me  and  especially 
a  letter  to  the  Semi-Centennial  Committee,  June  20,  1906,  which  is  later 
given  in  its  entirety. 


16  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

ful  rolling  piece  of  land  near  the  shore  of  the  river,  with 
plenty  of  wood  and  water  close  by  —  an  ideal  place  for  a 
pioneer  cabin/ 

On  the  31st  day  of  May,  1855,  on  the  line  between  the 
two  claims,  the  first  prairie  in  Palo  Alto  County  was 
broken  with  five  yoke  of  oxen  hitched  to  a  28-inch  plow. 
It  was  a  great  day  for  those  settlers,  who  now  began  to  see 
that  nature's  wilderness  was  in  fact  the  provider  of  their 
future  home.  In  the  days  that  followed,  trees  were  cut  and 
roughly  shaped  into  logs,  and  a  log  house  built.  It  was 
about  14x18,  of  rough  hewn  logs,  with  no  floor,  roofed 
over  with  *'  shakes,"  rough  slabs  about  three  feet  long 
lapped  over  each  other,  and  kept  in  place  by  poles  placed 
across  above  them.  Only  a  small  piece  of  ground  was 
sown,  that  spring.  Game  of  all  kinds  was  plenty.  Elk 
and  deer  were  often  seen,  and  the  settlers  fared  well  dur- 
ing the  spring  and  summer,  as  they  had  brought  some  sup- 
plies with  them. 

Some  time  that  summer,  perhaps  in  July,  a  band  of 
Sioux  Indians,  under  the  leadership  of  the  famous  chief, 
Inkpadutah,  came  and  camped  near  by.  They  did  not  ap- 
pear to  be  hostilely  inclined,  but  were  nevertheless  very 
troublesome.  The  settlers'  covered  wagons,  containing 
all  their  provisions,  were  drawn  up  in  the  shade  of  the 
trees  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  Carter  cabin,  which 
was  just  being  completed.  Mrs.  Evans  saw  an  Indian 
sneak  into  one  of  the  wagons  and  shortly  afterward  a 
butcher-knife  and  some  small  bags  of  beans  were  missed. 
The  settlers  had  a  very  savage  dog  which  they  tied  to  the 
wagon,  and  it  kept  such  good  watch  that  the  Indians  main- 
tained a  respectful  distance,  although  they  longed  to  get 
their  itching  fingers  on  some  more  of  the  white  man's 

1  This  was  in  section  21,  West  Bend  township.  William  Carter 's  son, 
A.  B.  Carter,  still  owns  the  old  farm  and  lived  there  until  the  spring  of 
1909,  when  he  moved  to  the  town  of  West  Bend. 


A.  B.  Cartkr 


THE  WEST  BEND  SETTLEMENT  17 

property.  Finally  the  Indians  drove  the  settlers'  cattle 
away,  killing  and  devouring  one  of  the  oxen.  The  rest  of 
the  cattle  were  found  near  the  east  fork  of  the  Des  Moines 
Eiver,  a  good  many  miles  to  the  south.  The  little  colony 
was  glad  to  be  well  rid  of  this  insolent  band  of  Indians. 

In  the  fall  William  Carter  returned  to  Benton  County 
and  brought  back  Mrs.  Carter  and  their  son  Ben  (A.  B. 
Carter) ,  who  was  then  fourteen  years  old.  They  traveled 
in  a  wagon  drawn  by  oxen,  and  after  leaving  Fort  Dodge 
it  was  a  slow  and  tedious  journey  for  sixty  miles  along  the 
rough  trail  over  the  waving  plains  of  grass.  They  arrived 
at  the  settlement  in  October,  1855,  and  received  a  royal 
welcome  to  their  new  home. 

The  Carter  and  Evans  families  were  the  only  settlers 
during  the  year  1855.  They  raised  some  sod  corn,  forty 
or  fifty  bushels  of  buckwheat,  and  about  two  hundred 
bushels  of  turnips.  This  was  considered  a  good  return 
for  the  few  acres  of  prairie  sod.  These  pioneers  did  not 
suffer  for  food,  as  they  had  brought  flour  and  bacon  with 
them,  and  wild  game  was  plenty.  They  threshed  the  buck- 
wheat with  flails,  ground  it  in  a  coffee  mill,  and  had  plenty 
of  buckwheat  cakes. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Carter,  in  telling  about  their  experiences, 
says :  '  *  It  was  very  cold  here  during  the  first  winter,  and 
I  guess  we  all  were  nearly  frozen  to  death.  Every  one  of 
my  toes  and  fingers  turned  black,  with  frost.  One  time 
we  started  to  go  to  Fort  Dodge  with  a  load  of  shingles  that 
we  had  made.  There  was  a  great  demand  for  those 
shingles  then,  and  we  had  three  pairs  of  cattle  on  the  sled. 
Got  down  about  Rutland,  and  it  was  getting  dark  and  we 
got  stuck  in  a  snowdrift  and  had  to  camp  there  all  night. 
We  were  nearly  frozen  to  death. 

' '  During  the  winter  of  '55  a  band  of  Sioux  Indians 
camped  in  our  woods  about  fifty  rods  from  the  house. 
From  that  time  on  there  were  adventures  every  day.    The 


20  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1856  William  D.  Powers  joined 
the  West  Bend  colony.  He  tells  the  story  of  his  coming  to 
Palo  Alto  County  as  follows :  ' '  I  walked  through  Palo 
Alto  under  command  of  Major  Sherman  on  our  march  to 
Fort  Ridgely  on  the  7th  of  March,  1854.  We  marched 
from  there  to  St.  Paul  and  took  boats  and  landed  at  Jef- 
ferson Barracks  and  from  there  took  boats  up  the  Missouri 
and  landed  at  Fort  Belknap,  and  from  there  to  Fort  Riley. 
I  was  discharged  at  that  post  on  August  29,  1855.  I 
worked  two  months  in  the  bakehouse.  I  served  five  years 
as  a  baker.  I  came  to  St.  Louis  and  bought  one  yoke  of 
oxen  and  a  wagon  and  I  traveled  up  through  Missouri  and 
came  up  to  Dakotah  [City]  and  stayed  a  few  days  with  Ed 
McKnight.  He  had  a  small  log  house  to  live  in,  the  only 
one  in  Dakotah  [City].  He  brought  me  down  to  a  steep 
bank  of  the  river  where  there  was  a  cave.  He  took  me  up 
to  the  south  comer  of  Palo  Alto  and  showed  me  a  piece 
of  land  to  live  on.  I  made  my  claim  on  section  34  on  the 
21st  day  of  December,  1855.  I  saw  a  log  house  about  a 
mile  from  where  McKnight  and  I  were  taking  a  lunch. 
We  went  up  and  found  Jerry  Evans  living  with  his  fam- 
ily. He  told  us  there  was  not  a  nail  in  the  house.  A  little 
farther  toward  the  river  we  found  another  log  house  oc- 
cupied by  William  Carter,  father  of  A.  B.  Carter,  and 
family.  I  went  back  to  Dakotah  [City]  and  lived  in  the 
cave  all  winter.  I  came  up  to  my  claim  and  put  up  my 
army  tent  I  had  bought  in  St.  Louis.  This  putting  up  my 
tent  was  on  the  9th  of  April,  1856,  at  what  is  called  West 
Bend  now.  The  country  looked  wild,  no  people  around. 
However,  in  the  fall  some  of  the  Sioux  Indians  came  down 
the  river  to  hunt.  There  was  plenty  of  game  at  that  time. 
The  chief,  Och-see-da-washta,  with  a  few  of  his  warriors, 
would  pay  me  a  visit  and  take  some  dinner  with  me.  I  had 
two  barrels  of  hardtack  I  brought  up  from  St.  Louis. 
They  are  hard  biscuit  for  army  use.     The  winter  of  1858 


W.  D.  Powers 


John  McCormick 


20  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1856  William  D.  Powers  joined 
the  West  Bend  colony.  He  tells  the  story  of  his  coming  to 
Palo  Alto  County  as  follows :  *  *  I  walked  through  Palo 
Alto  under  command  of  Major  Sherman  on  our  march  to 
Fort  Ridgely  on  the  7th  of  March,  1854.  We  marched 
from  there  to  St.  Paul  and  took  boats  and  landed  at  Jef- 
ferson Barracks  and  from  there  took  boats  up  the  Missouri 
and  landed  at  Fort  Belknap,  and  from  there  to  Fort  Riley. 
I  was  discharged  at  that  post  on  August  29,  1855.  I 
worked  two  months  in  the  bakehouse.  I  served  five  years 
as  a  baker.  I  came  to  St.  Louis  and  bought  one  yoke  of 
oxen  and  a  wagon  and  I  traveled  up  through  Missouri  and 
came  up  to  Dakotah  [City]  and  stayed  a  few  days  with  Ed 
McKnight.  He  had  a  small  log  house  to  live  in,  the  only 
one  in  Dakotah  [City].  He  brought  me  down  to  a  steep 
bank  of  the  river  where  there  was  a  cave.  He  took  me  up 
to  the  south  comer  of  Palo  Alto  and  showed  me  a  piece 
of  land  to  live  on.  I  made  my  claim  on  section  34  on  the 
21st  day  of  December,  1855.  I  saw  a  log  house  about  a 
mile  from  where  McKnight  and  I  were  taking  a  lunch. 
We  went  up  and  found  Jerry  Evans  living  with  his  fam- 
ily. He  told  us  there  was  not  a  nail  in  the  house.  A  little 
farther  toward  the  river  we  found  another  log  house  oc- 
cupied by  William  Carter,  father  of  A.  B.  Carter,  and 
family.  I  went  back  to  Dakotah  [City]  and  lived  in  the 
cave  all  winter.  I  came  up  to  my  claim  and  put  up  my 
army  tent  I  had  bought  in  St.  Louis.  This  putting  up  my 
tent  was  on  the  9th  of  April,  1856,  at  what  is  called  West 
Bend  now.  The  country  looked  wild,  no  people  around. 
However,  in  the  fall  some  of  the  Sioux  Indians  came  down 
the  river  to  hunt.  There  was  plenty  of  game  at  that  time. 
The  chief,  Och-see-da-washta,  with  a  few  of  his  warriors, 
would  pay  me  a  visit  and  take  some  dinner  with  me.  I  had 
two  barrels  of  hardtack  I  brought  up  from  St.  Louis. 
They  are  hard  biscuit  for  army  use.    The  winter  of  1858 


W,  D.  Powers 


John  McCormick 


THE  WEST  BEND  SETTLEMENT  21 

was  a  cold  and  snowy  time.  We  wanted  to  go  to  Dakotah 
[City]  to  get  some  flour.  We  could  not  take  any  teams 
along  on  account  of  the  deep  snow.  So  J.  Lynn,  S.  McClel- 
land, and  a  few  more  made  hand  sleighs  and  tramped  the 
snow  and  dragged  our  sleighs  along  and  started  back  with 
one  sack  of  flour  and  fifty  pounds  of  pork.  It  took  four 
days  to  go  and  come.  Oh,  what  a  change  from  those  hard 
times !  The  Indians  would  talk  about  the  time  I  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Yankton  Indians  at  Devil's  Lake.  But  those 
wild  times  are  gone  and  those  dark  days  are  set.  The 
bright  day  of  civilization  has  come.  Those  wild  times  and 
thousands  of  dark  hours  are  gone  forever. ' '  ^ 

The  natural  advantages  afforded  by  the  location  and 
the  fact  that  they  were  on  the  main  route  of  travel  to  the 
north,  combined  to  give  this  little  settlement  a  very  im- 
portant position.  Eugged  and  persevering  in  character, 
these  first  settlers  have  had  a  vital  and  lasting  influence 
on  the  development  of  the  county. 


1  Letter  of  William  D.  Powers,  June  20,  1906. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Irish  Colony 

In  July,  1856,  another  notable  group  of  settlers  came  to 
Palo  Alto  County.  This  was  a  colony  of  Irishmen  from 
Kane  County,  Illinois,  who  with  brave  hearts  and  stead- 
fast purpose  came  on  into  the  frontier  wilderness  in  search 
of  homes.  There  were  seven  families  in  this  colony,  and 
it  consisted  of  the  following  persons :  James  Nolan,  An- 
astasia  his  wife,  Maria  his  daughter,  and  two  sons,  James 
and  John  F. ;  John  Neary  and  his  wife,  and  one  son,  John 
P.  Neary,  and  one  daughter,  Mary;  Edward  Mahan  and 
Margaret  his  wife,  Ann  and  Ellen  his  daughters,  and 
two  sons,  John  and  Myles;  Martin  Laughlin,  his  wife 
Mary,  three  sons,  Lott,  J.  T.,  and  Patrick,  and  one  daugh- 
ter, Ellen;  John  Nolan  and  wife  Bridget,  and  one  son, 
Charlie;  Thomas  Downey  and  Ellen  Downey  his  wife, 
and  Ellen  his  daughter;  Orrin  Sylvester  and  his  wife 
Ellen.  Patrick  Jackman  and  Thomas  Laughlin,  both 
single,  came  with  these  settlers  though  not  members  of 
the  families  above  enumerated.^ 

There  were  six  ox  teams  in  the  party  and  they  wended 
their  weary  way  toward  the  west.  Their  proposed  destin- 
ation was  in  the  vicinity  of  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  but  at  Fort 
Dodge  they  met  a  man  by  the  name  of  Lynch,  who  had 
been  with  the  government  surveying  party  in  1855,  and 
who  told  them  of  the  splendid  location  for  settlers  along 
the  west  branch  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  where  there  was 
plenty  of  timber,  abundance  of  good  water,  and  the  tall 

1  Interviews  with  J.  F.  Neary,  Lott  Laughlin,  J.  J.  Mahan,  Myles  Mahan^ 
Patrick  Jackman,  Charles  Nolan  and  others. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jas.  Nolan 


Edward  and  Margaret  Mahan  John  Neary 


p.  R.  Jackman 


LOTT  Laughlin 


John  J.  Mahan 


Chas.  T.  Nolan 


OP      "  r 


THE  IRISH  COLONY  23 

grass  was  ample  evidence  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  Some 
of  the  party  went  forward  with  Mr.  Lynch  and  looked  over 
the  ground,  returning  with  glowing  accounts  of  the  coun- 
try. So  the  entire  party  started  on  the  rough  trail  from 
Fort  Dodge.  They  reached  the  Des  Moines  River  at  last 
and  camped  in  the  timber  at  what  is  now  known  as  Mur- 
phy's Bayou.  They  stayed  there  nearly  a  week  while  the 
various  members  of  the  party  prospected  the  country  and 
selected  their  claims.  While  here  these  pioneers  discov- 
ered the  first  traces  of  Indians.  Two  dozen  slaughtered 
geese  were  found  hanging  in  a  large  elm  tree  where  they 
had  been  left  by  the  redskins.  But  the  incident  scarcely 
more  than  awakened  their  curiosity,  as  they  had  not  oc- 
casion as  yet  to  know  the  treacherous  savage  nature  that 
was  later  to  spread  terror  throughout  the  settlement. 

These  pioneers  soon  moved  up  the  river  and  settled  on 
section  14,  in  Emmetsburg  township,  about  two  miles 
northwest  from  the  present  city  of  Emmetsburg.  Such 
brave  and  sturdy  settlers  as  these  were  good  examples  of 
the  frontiersman.  They  commenced  with  what  nature 
furnished  them  and  began  to  build  their  homes  from  the 
prairie  and  the  woods.  Although  it  was  getting  late  for 
plowing,  the  breaking  up  of  the  prairie  was  at  once  begun 
by  doubling  up  on  their  ox  teams.  The  next  task  was  to 
put  up  some  hay  for  the  cows  and  young  stock,  which  they 
had  brought  with  them  in  addition  to  their  oxen.  They 
built  rough  shelters  for  their  stock,  and  as  fast  as  possible 
constructed  rude  cabins  out  of  logs,  the  bark  still  on,  and 
the  cracks  chinked  with  mud.  These  cabins  all  had  clay 
floors,  and  were  roofed  with  * '  shakes  ' '  or  thatched  with 
hay,  covered  with  sod.  Most  of  the  cabins  had  cellars  or 
'  *  root  houses  ' '  as  they  were  called,  dug  on  the  outside  of 
the  house,  roofed  with  logs,  and  covered  over  with  clay 
and  sod.  This  ' '  root  house  ' '  had  no  outside  opening  and 
was  entered  by  steps  leading  down  from  inside  the  cabin. 


24  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

The  cabin  fire  would  keep  the  frost  out  of  the  cellar  and 
there  was  no  danger  of  freezing.  Several  of  the  cabins 
had  rough  fireplaces  built  in  the  clay  floor  and  under  the 
side  logs,  well  plastered  with  clay  and  with  a  piece  of  tin 
or  sheet  iron  at  the  back.  The  chimney  was  usually  a  hole 
in  the  roof  for  the  smoke  to  pass  through  and  was  in  fact 
the  most  prominent  feature  about  that  sort  of  convenience 
in  those  days.  Plain  accommodations,  hearty  fare  and 
plenty  of  hard  work,  characterized  the  daily  life  of  these 
first  settlers. 

Little  of  interest  transpired  during  the  first  six  months 
in  their  new  homes,  and  except  for  an  occasional  Indian, 
or  a  hunt  for  wild  game,  there  was  little  excitement  to 
break  the  routine  work  on  their  claims.  These  settlers 
had  come  direct  from  a  well  settled  community,  and  as  yet 
little  appreciated  the  full  value  of  nature's  gifts.  Musk- 
rats,  beaver,  mink,  as  well  as  wolves  and  foxes,  were  plen- 
tiful. But  the  settlers  knew  little  about  hunting  and  prac- 
tically nothing  about  trapping.  It  was  not  until  1858, 
when  three  professional  trappers  came  and  camped  near 
them,  and  were  offered  over  $7,000  for  their  winter's 
catch,  that  the  settlers  began  to  realize  the  value  of  such 
pelts.  Wild  fowl  of  every  kind  was  abundant.  It  was  a 
common  sight  to  see  Medium  Lake  black  with  wild  geese. 
Deer,  antelope,  and  elk  were  often  seen  and  two  buffalo 
were  sighted  by  some  of  these  settlers  that  year.  Nature's 
abundance  was  some  compensation  for  pioneer  hardships. 
Supplies  and  provisions  were  obtained  from  Fort  Dodge, 
though  the  settlers  had  to  go  to  Iowa  City  for  their  com 
meal  and  made  several  trips  that  fall.  As  the  snow  was 
very  deep  the  first  winter,  the  men  were  compelled  to 
make  trips  to  Fort  Dodge  on  snow  shoes  in  real  Indian 
fashion.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  furs  for  trade,  they 
would  have  found  it  hard  to  subsist,  as  there  was  very  little 
money  in  those  far-off  settlements. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jas.  Hickey 


Mrs.  Maggie  Hickey-McNally 

First  White  Child  Born  in  Palo  Alto 
County 


M.  H,  Crowley 


J.  P.  Crowley 


"l^IB^ 


OA/iwl'-'^e 


'-f^nN\^. 


THE  IRISH  COLONY  25 

James  Hickey  and  wife  joined  the  Irish  colony  in  the 
early  fall  of  1856,  and  remained  with  the  settlement  dur- 
ing the  first  winter.  Their  daughter  (Mrs.  Patrick  McNal- 
ly) ,  born  in  October  of  that  year,  was  the  first  white  child 
born  in  the  county.  The  following  spring  the  Hickeys 
took  up  a  claim  farther  south  across  the  river  on  section 
35-96-33. 

One  of  the  early  settlers  who  came  to  this  county  after 
the  Irish  colony  settled  here,  was  Jerry  Crowley,  Sr.,  and 
family,  consisting  of  five  children,  J.  P.,  Michael  H.,  Katie, 
Ellen  and  John.  They  came  in  the  fall  of  1856  and  settled 
in  a  picturesque  grove  of  natural  timber  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river  in  section  35,  in  what  is  now  Walnut  township, 
about  five  miles  north  of  the  Irish  settlement.  Mr.  Crow- 
ley built  a  house  that  fall  and  then  went  to  Fort  Dodge  to 
get  supplies  for  the  winter.  He  bought  some  sod  corn 
from  Shippey  and  potatoes  from  Evans.  There  were  no 
white  neighbors  nearer  than  the  Irish  colony,  but  in  the 
winter  of  1856,  some  time  in  December,  a  band  of  fourteen 
Indians  camped  in  the  woods  not  over  twenty-five  rods 
from  Crowley's  house.  The  family  could  see  the  tepees 
plainly  from  their  dooryard.  They  were  good  Indians, 
with  Sleepy-Eye  as  their  chief,  and  did  not  bother  the 
Crowleys  any  during  that  winter.  In  fact  they  were  given 
large  quantities  of  flour  and  other  supplies.  There  were 
three  trappers  who  camped  along  the  river  that  winter 
and  traded  somewhat  with  the  Indians.  These  trappers 
got  a  great  many  valuable  furs  and  took  them  to  Fort 
Dodge,  but  the  snow  was  so  deep  that  they  did  not  get  back 
with  the  supplies  in  time  to  trade  with  the  Indians  before 
the  Indians  left.  These  same  Indians  left  in  the  spring  of 
1857,  at  the  time  Inkpadutah's  band  perpetrated  the  Spirit 
Lake  massacre.  Michael  H.  Crowley,  describing  the  band 
of  Indians,  says :  *  *  They  camped  not  over  twenty-five 
or  thirty  rods  from  our  house.    I  used  to  see  the  squaws 


26  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

chopping  wood.  They  never  tried  to  molest  ns.  I  was  al- 
ways afraid  of  them.  One  in  particular  I  remember.  He 
would  come  in  with  a  great  big  club,  all  tacked  full  of  brass 
tacks.  It  had  a  steel  spear  in  the  end  of  it  and  a  skunk  tail 
hanging  to  the  end.  He  was  a  ferocious  looking  fellow  and 
I  never  liked  him,  and  was  very  glad  when  they  left.  The 
rest  of  the  family  did  not  seem  to  be  afraid  of  them.  Jerry 
used  to  go  over  to  the  tepees  and  play  with  the  Indian 
children.    They  would  slide  down  hill  together. ' '  ^ 

Eoger  Corcoran,  his  wife  and  three  children,  came  with 
Jerry  Crowley,  Sr.  They  settled  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river  in  section  35.  It  was  the  intention  of  Mr.  Corcoran 
and  Mr.  Crowley  to  take  the  same  claim,  buy  it,  and  divide 
the  timber.  But  this  agreement  was  not  carried  out,  as 
the  former  left  the  next  spring  and  did  not  return. 

There  was  a  community  of  interest  and  helpfulness  per- 
vading this  Irish  colony.  The  seven  original  families  had 
located  close  together  in  a  compact  little  settlement  for 
protection  and  social  convenience.  With  stout  hearts  and 
willing  hands  these  sturdy  settlers  together  braved  the 
trials  of  frontier  life.  This  Irish  colony,  as  it  was  called, 
thus  became  the  nucleus  of  the  settlement  in  the  central 
part  of  the  county  and  exerted  an  important  influence  over 
the  community. 


1  Interview  with  M.  H.  Crowley. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Indians  and  the  Spirit  Lake  Massacre 

The  pioneer  family  on  the  western  prairie  could  endure 
with  fortitude  the  life  on  a  lonely  claim,  but  one  danger 
continually  menaced  its  peace  of  mind.  The  roving  bands 
of  Indians  were  generally  unfriendly  and  often  treacher- 
ously destructive.  Once  roused  to  vengeance,  the  savage 
nature  found  expression  in  deeds  of  pillage,  arson  and 
murder  that  made  one's  blood  run  cold. 

Many  different  tribes  of  Indians  had  roamed  over  the 
Iowa  prairies  before  the  advent  of  the  white  settlers,  but 
all  these  had  gradually  drifted  westward,  and  their  land 
acquired  by  the  government,  until  in  1851  the  last  of  West- 
em  Iowa  was  ceded  by  treaty  to  the  United  States.  Of  all 
the  bands  of  Indians  the  Sioux  were  perhaps  the  most 
ferocious  and  warlike.  They  were  continually  at  war  with 
other  tribes  and  as  they  saw  the  onward  march  of  the 
white  settler  and  felt  the  encroachments  upon  their  be- 
loved hunting  ground,  they  became  sullen  and  bitter  to- 
ward the  pioneers. 

Some  unfortunate  conditions  served  to  intensify  this 
feeling.  As  early  as  1847,  Henry  Lott,  an  unscrupulous 
ruffian,  who  had  settled  far  out  on  the  frontier  in  Webster 
County,  organized  a  gang  of  desperate  characters  who 
stole  horses  and  committed  many  depredations  among  the 
settlers  and  Indians.  Lott's  cabin  finally  became  such  a 
notorious  rendezvous,  that  when  a  band  of  Indians  under 
the  chief  Sidominadotah  tracked  a  number  of  stolen  ponies 
to  his  place,  they  ordered  him  to  leave  the  county.  As  he 
did  not  do  so,  a  few  days  afterwards  the  Indians  killed  his 


*Z8  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

cattle,  drove  his  family  out,  and  burned  his  cabin.  Lott 
fled  terror-stricken,  leaving  his  wife  and  children,  and  one 
of  his  small  sons  died  from  the  cold  and  exposure.  Lott 
swore  vengeance  upon  the  Sioux,  but  it  was  several  years 
before  he  returned. 

The  Indians  keenly  resented  the  advance  of  the  white 
man  and  when  the  surveyors  crossed  the  Des  Moines  in 
1848,  the  Indians  attacked  them,  broke  up  their  instru- 
ments and  drove  them  back.  This  incident  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  Fort  Dodge  by  the  government. 

In  1853  Lott  and  his  step-son  came  back  again  and  set- 
tled on  the  east  branch  of  the  Des  Moines  River  in  Hum- 
boldt County,  at  a  place  that  has  since  been  known  as  Lott's 
Creek. 

In  the  following  January,  the  chief  of  the  same  band  of 
Sioux,  unsuspecting,  and  not  recognizing  his  old  enemy, 
camped  a  short  distance  from  Lott's  cabin.  Burning  with 
hatred  and  revenge,  in  retaliation  for  the  death  of  his  son 
and  destruction  of  his  property  years  before,  Lott  treach- 
erously killed  Chief  Sidominadotah  and  his  whole  family 
except  a  little  girl  who  hid  in  the  bushes  and  a  boy  who 
was  left  for  dead.^ 

The  bodies  of  the  chief  and  his  family  were  brutally  left 
where  they  lay,  the  camp  was  looted  and  burned,  and  the 
Lotts  escaped  down  the  river.  They  sold  the  booty  and 
hastened  still  farther  west.  Several  days  later  Inkpadu- 
tah,  a  brother  of  the  murdered  chief,  discovered  the  bodies 
of  the  victims,  and  it  was  soon  known  that  Lott  was  the 
murderer. 

1  For  the  story  of  Lott  and  his  troubles  see  Gue,  History  of  Iowa,  vol. 
1,  pp  289-292;  Smith,  History  of  Dickinson  County,  chap.  2;  Flickinger, 
Pioneer  History  of  Pocahontas  County,  pp.  27-28,  etc.  See  also  an  excellent 
article  by  L.  F.  Andrews  in  Des  Moines  Register  cmd  Leader,  August  12, 
1907. 

This  Indian  boy  recovered  and  was  afterward  known  as  "Josh."  He 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Carter  cabin. 


THE  INDIANS  AND  THE  SPIRIT  LAKE  MASSACRE  29 

The  Indians  were  thoroughly  enraged  and  demanded  the 
punishment  of  Lett,  but  though  attempts  were  made  to 
follow  him,  he  was  never  apprehended.  Not  long  after 
this  the  head  of  the  murdered  chief  was  ingloriously 
stuck  up  on  a  pole  in  the  town  of  Homer  near  Fort  Dodge.^ 
The  failure  to  punish  Lott  increased  the  rage  and  desire 
for  vengeance  among  the  Sioux.  The  settlers  were  great- 
ly alarmed,  and  there  was  a  vague  feeling  of  distrust  that 
boded  ill  for  the  future. 

Inkpadutah,  also  known  as  "Scarlet  Point"  or  ''Eed 
End,"  became  the  chief  of  the  Sioux  band.  Reckless, 
domineering  and  cruel,  he  ruled  his  tribe  with  a  strong 
hand  and  his  harshness  drove  many  of  his  followers  to 
join  more  peaceful  tribes.  His  band  thus  dwindled  until 
it  became  a  small  group  of  straggling  Indians,  who  ranged 
the  country  throughout  the  northwest,  committing  all  sorts 
of  petty  depredations.  Harvey  Ingham,  in  an  article  in 
the  Midland  Monthly,  thus  describes  their  actions :  ' '  Ink- 
padutah and  his  followers  contented  themselves  with 
stripping  trappers  and  surveyors,  stealing  horses,  and 
foraging  on  scattered  settlers,  always  maintaining  a  hos- 
tile and  threatening  attitude.  Many  pages  of  the  Midland 
would  be  required  for  a  brief  enumeration  of  the  petty 
annoyances,  pilferings  and  more  serious  assaults  which 
occurred.  At  Dakotah  City,  in  Humboldt  County,  the  cabin 
of  E.  McKnight  was  rifled  in  the  spring  of  1855.  Farther 
north,  within  a  few  miles  of  Algona,  the  cabin  of  Malachi 
Clark  was  entered,  and  the  settlers  gathered  in  great 
alarm  to  drive  out  the  IndianS^ —  a  band  of  eighty  braves 
led  by  Inkpadutah  in  person.  Still  farther  north,  near 
where  Bancroft  stands,  W.  H.  Ingham  was  captured  by 

1  "Sketch  of  Early  History,"  by  Ambrose  A.  Call,  History  of  Kossuth 
County,  Union  Pub.  Co.  The  late  Charles  Aldrich  also  had  a  vivid  remem- 
brance of  this,  and  says  that  the  skull  was  fractured  in  several  places  by 
a  blunt  instrument.  L.  F.  Andrews's  article,  Des  Moines  Begister  and 
Leader,  August  12,  1907. 


30  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Umposhota,  a  leader  under  Inkpadutah  in  the  massacre, 
and  was  held  a  prisoner  for  three  days."  ^ 

The  winter  of  1856  was  a  very  severe  one.  The  intense 
cold  and  heavy  snow  was  followed  by  violent  storms,  and 
the  sufferings  of  the  settlers  were  extreme.  Inkpadutah 
and  his  band  had  been  camping  at  Loon  Lake,  but  in  De- 
cember, 1856,  started  down  the  Little  Sioux  River  as  far 
as  Smithland.  Another  part  of  the  band  was  in  camp 
near  Springfield  (now  Jackson),  Minnesota. 

In  February,  1857,  the  Indians  and  settlers  had  trouble 
at  Smithland,  until  the  redskins  finally  were  driven  away. 
"With  their  savage  natures  aroused  and  with  a  pent-up 
desire  for  vengeance,  the  combined  band  of  Sioux  started 
north.  Inkpadutah  knew  the  defenseless  condition  of  the 
scattered  settlers  and  he  determined  to  wreak  an  awful 
vengeance  upon  the  countrymen  of  Henry  Lott.  As  the 
band  moved  northward  they  robbed  and  pillaged  with  de- 
structive hand,  and  committed  the  most  barbarous  out- 
rages that  ever  a  savage  mind  devised.  No  one  had  been 
killed,  however,  when  with  their  murderous  desires  roused 
by  these  atrocities  to  the  highest  pitch,  they  came  to  the 
peaceful  little  settlement  on  the  banks  of  the  lakes  in 
Dickinson  County. 

Mrs.  Abbie  Gardner  Sharp,  the  sole  survivor  of  that 
terrible  massacre,  in  a  letter  written  in  1887,  thus  describes 
that  never-to-be-forgotten  event : 

' '  It  is  with  sadness  that  I  recall  to  memory  the  ill-fated 
March  the  8th,  1857,  when  Inkpadutah  and  his  murderous 
band  invaded  the  peaceful  and  happy  little  settlement  of 
Spirit  and  Okoboji  Lakes  and  completely  demolished  it. 
It  is  not  thirty  years  since  those  horrible  atrocities 
were  enacted,  and  having  lost  all  on  that  sad  day  that 
made  life  dear  to  me,  and  though  wrecked  in  health,  I  still 

1  Harvey  Ingham,  Midland  Monthly ;  Smith,  History  of  Dickinson  County, 
p.  38 ;  Abbie  Gardner  Sharp,  History  of  the  Spirit  Lake  Massacre,  chap.  vi. 


THE  INDIANS  AND  THE  SPIRIT  LAKE  IVIASSACRE  31 

live  a  witness  to  those  terrible  scenes.  The  outbreak  was 
as  sudden  and  unexpected  as  a  thunderbolt  from  a  cloud- 
less sky.  The  Indians  approached  and  through  their  pro- 
fessions of  friendship  got  into  the  house,  taking  the  people 
by  surprise,  and  attacking  in  such  a  way  that  one  family 
could  not  help  another.  My  father  was  shot  down  while 
his  back  was  turned  getting  the  Indians  some  flour.  They 
then  rushed  upon  my  mother  and  sister,  beating  them  over 
the  head  with  the  butts  of  their  guns,  and  drove  them  out 
in  the  dooryard  and  killed  them.  My  brother  and  two 
sisters,  all  little  children,  were  clinging  to  me  in  speechless 
terror.  They  next  seized  these  helpless  children,  heedless 
of  their  piteous  cries  for  the  help  I  was  powerless  to  give 
them,  dragging  them  out  of  doors,  and  beating  them  to 
death  with  sticks  of  stove  wood.  All  through  their  course 
they  shot  down  the  men  when  their  backs  were  turned,  and 
then  rushed  upon  the  helpless  and  terror-stricken  women 
and  children  and  killed  them  in  the  most  cruel  and  shock- 
ing manner.  At  the  time  of  the  massacre  I  was  little  more 
than  a  child  of  less  than  fourteen  summers,  and  was  with 
three  other  women  taken  captive,  suffering  for  three 
months  all  the  cruelties  and  indignities  that  Indians  only 
know  how  to  inflict. ' '  ^ 

Over  forty  persons  —  men,  women  and  children  —  were 
thus  brutally  murdered  at  the  lakes,^  and  the  savages, 
after  holding  their  war  dance  and  painting  their  victories 
in  signs  upon  the  smoothed  surface  of  a  tree,  broke  camp 
and  moved  northward  with  their  plunder  to  find  fresh 
fields  for  their  murderous  work. 

Our  settlers  in  Palo  Alto  County  knew  nothing  of  these 

1  From  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Abbie  Gardner  Sharp,  Aug.  4,  1887,  Annals  of 
Iowa,  October,  1898,  p.  550.  Mrs.  Sharp's  book,  History  of  the  Spirit 
Lake  Massacre,  is  a  graphic  description  of  the  events  leading  up  to  that  ter- 
rible day,  and  contains  a  vivid  picture  of  the  massacre,  the  relief  expedition, 
the  captivity  of  Abbie  Gardner,  her  ransom  and  release. 

2  Abbie  Gardner  Sharp,  History  of  the  Spirit  Lake  Massacre,  p.  47. 


32  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

tragedies  that  were  being  enacted  such  a  short  distance 
away.  The  news  was  first  brought  to  them  by  three  men 
from  Jasper  County  —  Wheelock,  Parmenter  and  Howe 
by  name,  who  were  on  their  way  to  the  lakes  to  join  the 
settlement;  but  when  they  found  the  cabins  in  ashes  and 
the  dead  bodies  of  the  victims  lying  where  they  had  fallen, 
they  hurried  back  to  give  the  alarm. 

These  harrowing  reports  spread  terror  throughout  the 
whole  northwest,  and  many  settlers  fled  to  places  of  safety. 
The  members  of  the  little  Irish  colony  could  hardly  be- 
lieve that  Indians  who  seemed  so  peaceful  when  camped 
so  near  them  that  winter  could  commit  such  deeds.^  It  was 
indeed  a  miracle  that  they  were  spared.  But  in  spite  of 
the  general  stampede  to  Fort  Dodge,  the  Irish  settlers  re- 
mained for  some  time.  Their  cabins  furnished  a  conven- 
ient station  for  the  soldiers  of  the  relief  expedition  as  we 
shall  see  in  the  next  chapter.  It  was  only  after  the  soldiers 
of  the  expedition  had  all  returned  home,  that  the  faithful 
little  band  finally  left  the  colony  to  seek  a  refuge  at  Fort 
Dodge  until  the  following  spring. 


1  The  late  J.  F.  Neary,  a  member  of  the  original  colony,  once  told  me  that 
he  thought  Inkpadutah 's  band  camped  until  March,  1857,  in  Crowley's 
woods,  five  miles  north  of  the  colony,  and  M.  H.  Crowley  is  of  the  same 
opinion.  But  A.  B.  Carter,  who  knew  Sleepy-Eye  and  his  band  very  well, 
is  positive  that  it  was  Sleepy-Eye's  band  that  camped  at  Crowley's  and  re- 
members Sleepy-Eye  telling  him  that  it  was  Inkpadutah's  band  of  bad  In- 
dians that  was  killing  the  whites  on  the  Sioux  and  at  the  lakes. 


CHAPTEE  V 

The  Relief  Expedition 

The  alarming  news  of  the  massacre  stirred  the  towns  of 
Fort  Dodge  and  Webster  City.  Public  meetings  were 
held,  and  within  three  days  about  one  hundred  men  had 
volunteered  to  go  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians  and  to  the  re- 
lief of  the  settlers.  Such  supplies  as  could  be  procured 
were  hastily  gathered  and  the  men  organized  into  com- 
panies. 

Governor  Grimes  had  previously  appointed  Major  Will- 
iam Williams  of  Fort  Dodge  as  the  executive  agent  to  pro- 
tect the  frontier,  and  he  now  promptly  took  charge  of  the 
expedition.  C.  B.  Richards  was  captain  of  Company  A 
of  Fort  Dodge,  John  F.  Duncombe  captain  of  Company  B 
of  Fort  Dodge,  and  J.  C.  Johnson  captain  of  Company  C 
of  Webster  City.  The  number  of  men  was  considerably 
augmented  from  time  to  time  by  enlistments  from  the  set- 
tlers and  others  on  the  way.  In  all,  the  expedition  num- 
bered about  one  hundred  twenty-five  men. 

Realizing  that  delay  would  be  dangerous  for  the  success 
of  their  undertaking,  they  made  ready  quickly,  and  March 
24,  1857,  started  on  the  diflScult  journey  of  over  eighty 
miles  to  the  scene  of  the  massacre.  The  severe  cold  and 
deep  snow  rendered  their  progress  slow,  and  they  were 
poorly  equipped  for  such  hardships.  After  four  days  of 
difficult  travel  and  extreme  suffering,  they  reached  the 
Evans  cabin  on  the  edge  of  Palo  Alto  County.  Here  nine 
men  decided  that  the  hardships  were  too  great  and  re- 
turned home,  leaving  the  loyal  soldiers  to  fight  their  way 
onward. 


34  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Several  accounts  of  the  progress  of  the  expedition  by 
men  who  marched  with  the  command  have  been  preserved 
and  we  will  let  these  actual  participants  tell  the  rest  of  the 
story/ 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th ' '  the  command  started  early 
and  by  hard  and  constant  work  reached  Shippey's  at  dark. 
At  McCormick's,  a  mile  below  Shippey's,  we  found  Angus 
McBane,  Cyrus  C.  Carpenter,  William  B.  Pollock,  and 
Andrew  Hood,  who  joined  Company  A  and  went  on  with 
us  from  that  point.  We  also  found  at  Shippey  's  a  part  of  a 
load  of  flour  which  A.  M.  Luce  had  left  some  weeks  before, 
having  got  this  far  when  the  deep  snow  had  rendered  it 
impossible  to  proceed  with  his  load.  He  had  taken  what  he 
could  haul  on  a  hand  sled  and  gone  on  to  his  family  at  the 
lakes.  With  this  we  replenished  our  meagre  supplies  and 
the  next  day  reached  the  Irish  colony  in  Palo  Alto  County, 
where  we  were  able  to  get  some  hay  for  a  bed  and  sleep 
under  the  cattle  sheds.  Our  teams  being  nearly  worn  out 
we  got  an  ox  team  to  help  us  along. ' '  ^ 

' '  Sunday,  the  29th,  was  a  beautiful,  clear  day ;  snow 
melted  until  long  stretches  of  bare  ground  could  be  found, 
and  we  made  the  longest  march  of  any  day  since  leaving 
Fort  Dodge,  reaching  the  Irish  colony,  sixteen  miles  from 
Shippey's.  Here  all  the  settlers  for  many  miles  above  and 
below  the  river  had  collected  for  company  during  the  long, 
tedious  winter.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  massacre  at 
Spirit  Lake  until  [the  news  was  being  carried  to  Fort 
Dodge]  though  they  were  only  about  thirty- five  miles 
away;  they  were  living  in  little  log  cabins  and  dugouts 

1  The  Annals  of  lovm,  October,  1898,  contains  the  complete  history  of 
this  remarkable  march,  graphically  told  by  those  who  were  with  the  expe- 
dition. The  rest  of  this  chapter  is  taken  from  these  personal  reminis- 
cences as  quoted  in  the  Annals.  See  also  Mrs.  Abbie  Gardner  Sharp,  History 
of  the  Spirit  Lake  Massacre;  Gue,  History  of  Iowa,  vol.  i,  chap,  xxv; 
Smith,  History  Biclcinson  County,  chap.  vi. 

2  Recollections  of  Capt.  Charles  B.  Eichards,  Annals  of  Iowa,  October, 
1898,  p.  512. 


THE  RELIEF  EXPEDITION  35 

and  seemed  very  destitute;  most  of  them  had  only  been 
there  since  the  summer  and  fall  before  and  had  raised 
nothing-.  .  .  [A  day  or  so  later  a  scouting  party  that 
had  been  sent  out  to  reconnoitre]  met  that  heroic  band  of 
refugees  from  Springfield,  Minnesota,  where  they  had 
made  a  gallant  defense,  driven  the  savages  back  and  were 
fleeing  from  their  homes,  destitute,  having  left  everything 
but  the  clothes  they  had  on.  Their  only  conveyance  was 
a  sled  drawn  by  a  pair  of  oxen,  and  they  were  nearly 
starved.  Here  we  camped  and  did  all  we  could  to  make 
them  comfortable."^  [The  next  morning  the  rescued 
party  were  sent  back  in  charge  of  the  surgeon  to  the  Irish 
colony  while  the  soldiers  resumed  the  march.] 

'  *  We  fully  realized  now  that  we  were  in  the  Indian 
country  and  Major  Williams,  with  his  long  experience 
among  the  redskins,  took  every  precaution  to  guard 
against  a  surprise.  We  camped  at  Big  Island  Lake,  where 
we  found  fresh  signs  of  Indians.  We  reached  Granger's 
Grove,  on  the  Des  Moines  River,  close  to  the  Minnesota 
state  line,  that  night,  where  the  disappointing  news 
reached  us  that  the  Indians  had  left  the  place  some  five 
days  before,  and  that  a  detachment  of  United  States 
mounted  troops,  sixty  in  number,  were  then  quartered  at 
Springfield.  Our  whole  company  was  sorely  disappoint- 
ed. After  having  undergone  such  privations,  we  hoped 
that  though  we  were  not  in  time  to  relieve  the  distressed 
settlers,  we  might  be  able  to  mete  out  to  their  murderers 
and  torturers  the  justice  they  so  richly  merited.  Our  pro- 
visions by  this  time  were  running  short,  from  the  fact  that 
owing  to  the  deep  snow  all  the  way  it  had  taken  us  longer 
to  reach  our  destination  than  was  expected.  The  men 
were  so  eager  to  follow  the  Indians,  and  leave  the  teams 
where  they  were,  each  man  taking  what  provisions  he 

1  Narrative  of  W.  K.  Laughlin,  Annals  of  Iowa,  October,  1898,  p.  542. 


36  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

could  carry,  that  Major  Williams  offered  twenty-five  dol- 
lars a  hundred  for  a  few  sacks  of  flour.  But  the  settlers 
only  had  part  of  a  load  of  flour  and  did  not  know  when 
any  more  could  be  had.  The  Major  refused  to  exercise 
military  authority  and  take  it  by  force,  and  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  2nd  of  April  he  sent  twenty-five  men  under  Cap- 
tain Johnson  to  bury  the  dead  at  Spirit  Lake. "  ^ 

Eobert  McCormick  was  one  of  the  volunteers  who  per- 
formed that  sad  mission.  On  the  return  this  party  suf- 
fered great  hardships  and  two  of  the  number.  Captain 
Johnson  and  Private  Burkholder,  became  separated  from 
their  comrades  and  perished  in  the  cold.  Their  bones 
were  found  years  later  in  Palo  Alto  County  by  William 
Shea  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  3-95-33. 

The  main  body  of  the  expedition  returned  to  the  Irish 
colony.  ' '  Here  the  officers  were  called  together  to  consult 
as  to  ways  and  means  to  get  food  to  keep  the  men  together 
until  we  could  reach  Fort  Dodge.  The  settlers  at  the 
colony  were  on  short  rations  and  could  spare  nothing. 
We  decided  to  buy  a  steer  and  kill  for  the  party,  but  we 
had  no  money  and  the  owner  refused  to  sell  without  pay. 
We  offered  to  give  the  personal  obligation  of  all  the  of- 
ficers, and  assured  him  the  state  would  pay  a  good  price ; 
but  this  was  not  satisfactory.  We  therefore  decided  to 
take  one  vi  et  armis,  and  detailed  several  men  to  kill  and 
dress  the  steer.  They  were  met  by  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, armed  with  pitchforks  to  resist  the  sacrifice,  and  not 
being  able  to  convince  them  either  of  the  necessity  of  the 
case  or  that  they  would  get  pay  for  the  steer,  I  ordered 
Lieutenant  Stratton  and  a  squad  of  men  with  loaded  guns 
to  go  and  take  the  steer,  when,  seeing  we  were  determined, 
and  that  further  resistance  would  be  useless,  the  hostile 
party  retired.     The  animal  was  soon  dressed  and  dis- 

1  Paper  by  Michael  Sweeny,  Annals  of  Iowa,  October,  1898,  p.  540. 


THE  RELIEF  EXPEDITION  37 

tributed  to  the  men,  and  for  the  first  time  in  ten  days  they 
had  a  full  meal. 

' '  We  had  hoped  the  detachment  sent  to  the  lakes  might 
overtake  us,  but  as  they  did  not  come  we  left  what  meat 
had  not  been  used  for  the  men,  and  resumed  our  march. 
The  day  was  warm  until  about  noon,  when  a  cold  rain  be- 
gan, making  it  dreary  and  dismal.  We  found  several  small 
creeks  and  all  the  ravines  full  of  water,  but  crossed  all 
without  much  detention  until  we  arrived  at  Cylinder  Creek, 
about  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  from  the  colony,  and  two 
from  Shippey's,  where  we  expected  to  camp  for  the  night. 
This  point  we  reached  about  3  p.  m.,  when  we  found  the 
bottom  on  the  west  side  one  vast  sheet  of  water  fully  half 
a  mile  wide.  We  had  become  accustomed  to  overcoming 
obstructions  and  at  once  sent  two  men  with  poles  to  wade 
out  as  far  as  possible  and  ascertain  the  depth  of  the  water. 
Their  report  was  that  the  men  could  wade  for  nearly  half 
a  mile  in  water  from  two  to  five  feet  deep,  when  they  would 
reach  the  channel  proper  of  the  creek,  which  was  from 
sixty  to  eighty  feet  wide  and  very  deep,  with  a  swift  cur- 
rent. We  determined  to  make  a  boat  from  our  wagon  box 
by  calking  the  cracks  with  cotton  taken  from  our  comfort- 
ers and  with  this  (first  stretching  a  rope  across  the  deep 
water)  we  could  wade  the  men  out  to  that  point  and  run 
them  across  in  the  wagon  box.  .  .  When  we  struck  the 
swift  current  we  were  carried  rapidly  down  stream,  but 
by  using  our  poles  we  managed  to  get  across.  As  we 
struck  the  further  shore  where  the  bank  was  steep  and  a 
lot  of  ice  piled  up,  our  boat  shut  up  like  a  jack  knife,  there 
being  no  braces  at  the  corners.  Every  man  jumped  for 
shore  and  by  getting  hold  of  some  willows  all  got  out. 
Mason  losing  his  overcoat  and  hat,  and  all  getting  wet. 
When  the  boat,  which  went  under  in  the  collapse,  came  up 
it  was  only  separate  boards  floating  down  the  rapid 
stream,  and  the  rope  was  gone.    The  men  who  had  come 


38  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

out  to  hold  one  end  could  not  stand  the  cold  water  longer 
and  had  waded  back  to  the  main  body.  We  had  hoped  to 
stretch  this  rope  across  the  deep  water  and  ferry  over  the 
men. 

'  *  About  this  time  the  wind  suddenly  changed  to  the 
northwest  and  was  blowing  fiercely  and  very  cold,  so  that 
our  wet  clothes  began  to  freeze  and  stiffen.  .  .  In  the 
face  of  that  blizzard,  for  such  it  had  now  become,  we  could 
do  nothing.  By  this  time  it  had  grown  so  dark  that  nothing 
could  be  seen  of  the  other  shore,  neither  on  account  of  the 
noise  of  the  wind  could  we  get  any  reply  to  our  frequent 
calls.  We  were  utterly  incapable  of  further  exertion. 
The  howling  wind  and  drifting  snow  was  fast  obliterating 
the  track.  We  consulted  together  and  determined  that  it 
was  as  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  render  any  assistance 
to  our  men  as  it  would  have  been  had  they  been  in  mid- 
ocean,  and  that  our  only  safety  lay  in  getting  to  Shippey 's 
before  the  darkness  and  drifting  snow  made  it  impossible. 
It  was  a  terrible  walk  with  our  frozen  clothes  and  it  was 
nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  we  reached  the  cabin. 
Here  we  passed  a  night  which  no  lapse  of  time  will  ever 
obliterate  from  my  memory,  so  small  was  the  cabin  and 
so  cold,  and  we  had  only  our  wet  clothes.  We  warmed 
ourselves  by  the  open  fire,  had  some  bacon  and  bread  and 
a  cup  of  coffee  —  the  best  thing  to  revive  exhausted  na- 
ture I  have  ever  found.  We  had  no  blankets,  but  borrowed 
what  the  Shippeys  could  spare  from  their  scanty  store  and 
spent  the  night,  some  trying  to  sleep,  some  drying  their 
clothes  by  turning  first  one  side  to  the  fire,  then  the  other, 
all  anxious  and  making  frequent  visits  to  the  door  hoping 
the  storm  would  abate,  but  each  time  only  to  find  the  wind 
and  cold  increasing.  .  .  I  remember  that  it  seemed  as 
if  the  light  of  day  would  never  come.  The  image  of  each 
man  in  the  command,  out  in  this  terrible  night,  with  neither 


THE  RELIEF  EXPEDITION  39 

food,  fire  or  even  the  protection  of  a  tent,  was  constantly 
before  me. ' '  ^ 

The  main  part  of  the  force  was  thus  left  on  the  open 
prairie  to  face  the  terrible  blizzard.  Lieutenant  Mason 
thus  describes  their  experiences:  ''  We  were  now  drench- 
ed to  the  skin  and  as  the  wind  had  shifted  to  the  northwest 
it  rapidly  grew  cold,  and  before  many  minutes  our  clothes 
were  frozen  stiff.  We  were  very  scantily  dressed  —  few 
of  the  men  having  more  than  an  undershirt  and  a  pair  of 
pants.  I  fared  as  well  as  any  of  them,  and  all  I  had  to 
brave  that  fearful  storm  with,  was  a  flannel  shirt,  a  pair 
of  pants  with  one  leg  torn  off  at  the  knee  and  the  seam  in 
the  other  ripped  from  top  to  bottom,  and  one  boot  with  the 
leg  cut  off,  the  mate  having  been  burned  a  few  days  pre- 
vious. We  began  to  look  around  for  a  place  to  sleep. 
Some  of  the  boys  spread  their  blankets  on  the  ground  and 
arranged  themselves  '  spoon  fashion.'  Brizee,  Rowland, 
Hathway,  and  myself  lay  behind  the  hind  wheels  of  a 
wagon.  We  got  through  that  night,  but  I  hardly  know 
how,  as  the  mercury  was  over  30°  below.  We  were  all  glad 
to  see  daylight,  but  many  did  not  dare  to  crawl  out  of  their 
blankets  that  day.  The  poor  boys  were  almost  freezing 
and  some  of  them  were  becoming  delirious.  I  think  we 
were  all  more  or  less  insane  during  a  part  of  that  terrible 
night.  Brizee  would  frequently  put  his  face  to  mine  and 
beg  me  to  *  go  down  the  creek,  only  half  a  mile,  where  there 
was  a  big  hotel,  where  we  could  get  a  warm  breakfast  with 
hot  coffee.'  When  I  would  tell  him  that  it  was  only  a 
dream  he  would  sob  like  a  child  and  still  insist  that  we 
must  go.  After  daylight  I  fell  into  a  doze,  and  dreamed 
that  I  was  at  my  dear  old  mother's  home,  that  I  had  been 
away  and  had  come  home  hungry,  and  that  she  and  a  f  avor- 

1  Keminiscences  of  Chas.  B.  Richards,  Annals  of  Iowa,  Sept.,  1898,  pp. 
517-520. 


40  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

ite  sister  prepared  some  toast  for  me.   I  can  see  them  now 
as  I  saw  them  then. 

* '  The  next  morning  was  still  and  bright.  Mr.  Rowland 
and  myself  concluded  to  cross  the  creek.  We  staggered 
to  our  frozen  feet  and  arm  in  arm  hobbled  toward  the 
stream.  All  eyes  were  upon  us  as  we  went  out  upon  the 
ice.  We  began  to  feel  encouraged  but  when  we  neared 
the  center  of  the  creek  we  found  a  space  of  open  water, 
about  thirty  feet  wide  and  very  deep.  We  had  resolved, 
however,  never  to  return  to  that  camp  again,  and  looking 
up  the  stream  we  saw  a  clump  of  willows  and  went  up  to 
them.  Here  we  found  that  ice  had  floated  down,  lodged 
against  the  willows  and  frozen  there,  thus  forming  a  com- 
plete bridge.  After  passing  the  channel  we  signaled  back, 
when  a  truly  joyous  shout  went  up  from  those  poor  half- 
insane  boys.  I  will  here  state  that  there  was  not  a  man 
among  our  number — about  80  —  who  had  strength  enough 
to  reach  the  opposite  shore.  I  do  not  understand  why  they 
were  so  affected,  the  trouble  seemed  to  be  weakness  and  a 
shortness  of  breath.  Every  man's  mouth  was  open  wide, 
his  tongue  hanging  out,  and  in  some  instances  blood  run- 
ning from  nose  or  mouth.  Shippey's  cabin,  where  Major 
Williams,  Captains  Buncombe  and  Richards,  and  Private 
Smith  had  been  during  the  storm,  was  two  and  a  half  miles 
southeast  of  the  creek.  Howland  and  I  kept  together  un- 
til we  reached  the  cabin,  and  were  among  the  last  to  arrive. 
He,  being  the  stronger,  had  rendered  me  considerable  as- 
sistance, for  which  I  now,  after  thirty  years,  thank  him 
most  sincerely.  Major  Williams  met  us  with  great  tears 
streaming  down  his  furrowed  cheeks,  and  those  who  had 
remained  at  the  cabin  rendered  as  all  the  assistance  in 
their  power.  We  soon  devoured  the  provisions  given  us 
and  all  sank  down  in  the  warmth  of  the  sun  and  slept.  We 
were  allowed  to  sleep  till  about  three  o  'clock  P.  M.,  when 
we  were  aroused  from  our  slumbers  and  a  consultation 


THE  RELIEF  EXPEDITION  41 

was  held.    It  was  decided  to  disband,  separate  into  small 
squads,  and  strike  out  for  the  nearest  settlement. ' '  ^ 

' '  All  of  the  command  finally  arrived  safely  except  Cap- 
tain Johnson  and  Wm.  Burkholder,  who  perished  in  the 
awful  storm  not  far  from  the  Irish  colony,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  west  fork  of  the  Des  Moines  Eiver.  Some  of  the 
party,  however,  received  injuries  from  the  exposure  on 
the  march  from  which  they  never  recovered.  I  have  doubts 
whether  any  body  of  men  for  the  same  length  of  time,  on 
any  march,  ever  suffered  greater  hardships,  more  constant 
exposure,  more  severe  bodily  labor,  than  those  who  com- 
posed the  Spirit  Lake  expedition.  .  .  So  long  as  the 
people  of  Iowa  admire  pluck  and  true  courage ;  so  long  as 
Americans  are  freemen,  the  story  of  the  Spirit  Lake  ex- 
pedition will  be  told  with  pride  by  every  true  man  of  our 
state  and  by  all  who  are  familiar  with  her  history. ' '  '^ 


1  Recollections  of  Frank  E.  Mason,  Annals  of  Iowa,  Ooctober,  1898,  p. 
535. 

2  Address  of  Capt.  John  F.  Duncombe,  Annals  of  Iowa,  Sept.,  1898, 
pp.  507-8. 


CHAPTEB  VI 

New  Settlers  — 1856-1862 

The  spring  of  1857  was  late  in  coming,  but  in  May  the 
settlers  had  begun  to  return  to  their  abandoned  homes. 
New  settlers  were  picking  out  desirable  locations  and 
bringing  new  vigor  and  courage  into  the  prairie  settle- 
ments. As  the  spring  progressed  and  the  pleasant  sum- 
mer weather  came,  their  hope  revived  and  with  the  pros- 
pect of  a  good  crop  the  settlement  again  resumed  its 
normal  life. 

In  order  to  understand  the  situation  in  the  county  at 
that  time,  it  may  be  well  to  go  back  about  a  year  and  de- 
scribe more  fully  some  of  the  settlers  and  their  families, 
who  had  begun  to  select  locations  soon  after  the  first  set- 
tlements were  made.  In  a  prior  chapter  the  origin  of  the 
settlement  at  West  Bend  in  May,  1855,  and  the  experiences 
of  the  Carter  and  Evans  families  have  been  recorded. 
Samuel  McClelland,  who  had  come  out  with  the  Carters 
and  Evanses  on  their  first  trip,  had  gone  back  east  but 
returned  in  the  spring  of  1856  with  his  family.  He  was  a 
son-in-law  of  Wm.  Carter  and  so  located  his  home  on  the 
west  branch  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  about  three  miles 
north  of  where  Mr.  Carter  had  built  his  cabin.  In  July, 
1856,  John  McCormick,  Sr.,  and  his  son  Robert  came  to 
this  county.  As  they  came  west  they  traveled  along  the 
old  military  road  until  they  came  to  Mr.  Carter's,  where 
they  stopped,  as  it  was  the  only  house  at  that  time  along 
the  old  military  road.  They  spent  some  time  looking  at 
the  surrounding  country  with  a  view  to  taking  up  govern- 
ment land  and  soon  after  pre-empted  seven  quarter  sec- 


NEW  SETTLERS  —  1856-1862  43 

tions  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  in  what  is  now  Fern  Valley 
township.^ 

An  incident  is  told  of  these  days  that  illustrates  some 
of  the  difficulties  of  pioneer  life.  John  McCormick,  Jr., 
who  lived  back  in  New  Jersey,  wrote  to  his  brother  Robert, 
saying  that  he  would  like  to  have  a  letter  every  week. 
Robert  replied  from  Palo  Alto,  "The  frost  has  busted  my 
ink  bottle  and  it  is  fifty  miles  before  I  can  get  another."^ 

Soon  after  this,  R.  M.  J.  McFarland,  Sr.,  and  a  friend 
of  his  named  Jason  Simmons  came  to  the  county  from 
Wisconsin  and  settled  near  Mr.  Carter.  They  stayed 
there  that  fall  and  winter,  but  as  the  winter  was  very 
severe  and  the  conveniences  few,  they  decided  that  the 
Palo  Alto  climate  was  too  rigorous  and  returned  to  Wis- 
consin. There  may  have  been  other  reasons  for  Mr.  Mc- 
Farland's  not  staying  in  the  county,  as  he  was  single  at 
the  time  but  was  married  not  long  after  his  return  to 
Wisconsin.  Mr.  McFarland  had  pre-empted,  in  the  spring 
of  1858,  the  northeast  quarter  of  28,  West  Bend  township, 
but  a  year  or  so  later  sold  it  to  Chas.  Coyle  (father  of 
Judge  Daniel  F.  Coyle  of  Humboldt)  for  a  yoke  of  oxen. 
In  1864  his  recollections  of  the  beauties  of  Palo  Alto 
prompted  him  to  return  and  he  bought  back  the  old  place 
for  a  span  of  horses.  The  difference  between  the  yoke 
of  oxen  and  the  span  of  horses  represents  the  rise  in  value 
of  the  land  during  that  period.  The  records  do  not  show 
this  transfer,  as  Mr.  Coyle  did  not  think  it  worth  while 
to  record  his  deed  and  when  Mr.  McFarland  re-purchased 
the  land  he  was  simply  handed  back  his  unrecorded  paper.^ 

This  shows  in  an  interesting  way  the  simple  methods  of 
transacting  business  and  the  slight  value  attached  to  the 
land  in  those  days. 

1  Letter  of  Mrs.  Ira  D.  Stone.  Mrs.  Stone  is  a  daughter  of  John  McCor- 
mick, Sr. 

2  EecoUections  of  John  McCormick,  Jr. 

3  Letter  of  B.  F.  McFarland  of  West  Bend. 


44  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

James  Linn  came  to  the  county  and  settled  as  a  member 
of  the  West  Bend  colony  in  1856.  In  the  same  year  he 
married  Elizabeth  Carter,  daughter  of  William  Carter, 
and  Wm.  D.  Powers  married  Ann  Carter,  the  other  daugh- 
ter. These  were  the  first  two  marriages  that  took  place 
in  Palo  Alto  County.^  The  members  of  this  settlement 
thus  became  very  closely  bound  together  and  mutually 
interested  in  its  success  and  prosperity.  Dan  Howe  lived 
at  this  settlement  in  1856  and  also  had  a  claim  further 
north.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Thos.  Campbell  set- 
tled in  this  county  not  far  from  West  Bend. 

In  the  fall  of  1856,  Mrs.  John  McCormick,  Sr.,  and  her 
son  James,  and  daughter  Isabel,  started  from  Newark,  N. 
J.,  on  their  long  trip  to  join  the  rest  of  the  family  at  West 
Bend.  Mrs.  Isabel  McCormick  Stone,  in  describing  their 
journey,  says:  ''We  reached  Iowa  City  on  the  17th  of 
November,  1856.  My  brother  Robert  came  there  a  week 
later  with  an  ox  team  to  convey  us  to  our  home  near  Rod- 
man. While  traveling  by  those  slow  stages,  we  were  un- 
able to  reach  our  destination  on  account  of  streams  and 
the  big  snow.  Added  to  this,  my  brother  James  froze  his 
feet  and  had  to  have  a  portion  of  his  right  foot  amputated 
by  Dr.  Olney  of  Fort  Dodge,  when  we  got  there.  We  were 
then  forced  to  stop  until  March  with  an  old  lady  and  her 
son,  named  Schaffer,  who  lived  near  what  is  now  the  Glenn 
farm,  south  of  Dakotah  City,  near  the  forks  of  the  river. 
This  was  some  time  in  December,  1856.  In  March,  1857, 
we  left  there  and  by  dint  of  great  struggle  reached  our 
home,  where  John  McCormick  now  lives,  on  March  9,  being 
on  Monday  the  day  after  the  Indian  massacre  at  Spirit 
Lake."' 

In  the  spring  of  1858,  John  McCormick,  Jr.,  left  New 

i"Some  Reminiscences  of  a  Pioneer,"  Chas.  McCormick  in  Palo  Alto 
Eeporter,  August,  1906.  Statement  of  A.  B.  Carter.  Letters  of  Mrs.  Ira  D. 
Stone. 

2  Letter  of  Mrs.  Ira  D.  Stone  of  West  Bend. 


NEW  SETTLERS  —  1856-1862  45 

Jersey  to  join  the  rest  of  the  family  at  West  Bend.  After 
reaching  Fort  Dodge  he  started  out  on  foot  across  the 
prairie.  He  describes  his  experiences  as  follows:  *'I 
only  carried  a  satchel  on  my  shoulders.  Left  my  other 
stuff  at  Iowa  City.  Like  the  wise  virgins,  I  took  oil  in  my 
vessel.  I  had  several  pair  of  shoes,  carpenter  tools,  etc., 
but  left  them  at  Iowa  City  where  the  railroad  ended.  When 
I  got  to  this  side  of  the  river,  before  coming  to  Billy 
Miller's,  there  was  Badger  Creek,  with  the  water  running 
very  swiftly  over  a  stony  bottom.  It  was  all  I  could  do 
to  keep  my  feet.  If  I  had  not  done  so  I  would  have  been 
in  Des  Moines.  They  used  to  keep  a  ferry  there,  'Bull's 
Ferry'  they  called  it.  The  bull  would  swim  the  river  with 
the  people.  When  I  came  to  Dakotah,  they  said  there 
were  still  some  white  settlers  up  the  river.  One  man's 
name  was  Miller,  a  little  on  this  side  of  Kutland,  Humboldt 
County.  I  stopped  with  this  Miller,  this  side  of  Dakotah 
on  the  edge  of  the  river.  He  asked  me  if  I  had  had  any- 
thing to  eat.  It  was  then  getting  dark.  I  said, '  No. '  Says 
he, '  I  will  fix  you  something. '  He  baked  some  buckwheat 
cakes.  I  think  they  got  the  buckwheat  along  with  the  dirt 
and  ground  all  up  together.  I  thought,  'You  don't  need 
doctors  in  this  country,  you  are  pretty  gritty.'  I  eo.we 
from  there  on  up  to  West  Bend.  The  house  was  builr- 
when  I  got  there.  There  was  a  little  storm-shed  around 
the  door.  No  floor  in  the  house.  Poles  reached  across  for 
joists  and  small  poles  across  them  so  they  could  lay  sods 
over  to  make  the  house  warm.  There  was  no  lumber  in 
the  county  then.  The  grass  was  so  high  we  had  to  stake 
out  our  two  cows.  If  we  had  not  and  had  let  them  go, 
we  would  never  have  found  them  again.  Father  and  my 
brother  cooked  the  meals  on  two  forked  sticks.  That  was 
before  the  house  was  built.  My  brother  and  I  batched. 
Father  got  a  homestead  near  by.  My  brother  and  I  lived 
in  this  first  house,  batched  it  eight  years  without  a  floor 


46  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

in  the  house,  and  baked  our  bread  and  ate  our  meals  off  of 
a  shingle  block  and  got  fat.  We  kept  hotel  and  had  plenty 
of  custom.  Never  charged  them  anything  and  never  paid 
any  license.  Some  of  my  customers  wondered  how  I  baked 
such  good  bread.  We  had  plenty  of  good  cream,  plenty 
of  eggs,  made  it  as  rich  as  we  could,  and  baked  it  in  a  Dutch 
oven."^ 

In  September  of  1858,  Tom,  Charles,  and  Joe  McCor- 
mick  joined  the  rest  of  the  family  in  the  new  home.-  The 
McCormicks  were  very  hospitable  people  and  their  cabin 
was  the  stopping  place  for  all  travelers  along  the  road. 
They  were  always  willing  to  share  what  little  they  had 
with  all  who  chanced  that  way.  A  very  good  description 
of  the  McCormicks'  hospitality  in  the  early  days  is  given 
by  J.  N.  Prouty  as  follows :  "In  the  winter  of  1868  and 
1869, 1  undertook  to  make  the  trip  around  the  circuit  with 
the  then  circuit  judge,  J.  M.  Snyder,  who  was  an  old 
acquaintance  and  had  studied  law  in  the  same  office  with 
me.  We  reached  the  old  McCormick  place  about  sunset. 
The  place  looked  rather  forbidding  to  me.  The  house 
was  two  log  houses  set  end  to  end  and  half  buried  in  a 
gravel  knoll.  I  think  the  roof  was  also  of  earth  or  sod,  so 
that  there  was  just  enough  space  between  the  two  earths 
for  little  windows  with  7x9  panes.  I  objected  to  stopping 
there  (I  was  wearing  a  silk  hat  at  that  time  but  haven't 
been  guilty  of  it  since),  but  the  Judge  said  it  was  the  best 
place  available.  We  drove  up  in  front  of  the  house.  The 
Judge  got  out  of  the  sleigh,  went  down  a  sort  of  hatchway 
to  the  door  and  rapped.  A  rather  large,  elderly  woman 
opened  the  door  and  they  greeted  each  other  very  cor- 
dially and  then  the  Judge  asked  if  we  could  stay  over  night 
there.  She  said,  ^Oh,  yes,  we  can  keep  you,  but  you  will 
have  to  take  care  of  your  horses  yourselves,  as  the  men 

1  Interview  with  John  McCormick. 

2  "Some  Reminiscences  of  a  Pioneer,"  Chas.  McCormick. 


NEW  SETTLERS  —  1856-1862  47 

folks  are  all  gone.'  We  then  drove  to  the  barn,  which 
was  about  ten  rods  away  and  built  by  setting  forked  posts 
or  crotches,  as  they  were  then  called,  in  the  ground,  laying 
poles  across,  throwing  a  lot  of  willow  brush  on  top  and 
standing  up  other  and  smaller  poles  on  the  sides,  and  then 
covering  the  whole  with  the  desired  thickness  of  prairie 
hay,  leaving  a  large  portion  of  the  south  side  open  for  the 
cattle  to  go  out  and  in  at  will.  The  west  end  had  been 
enclosed  and  partitioned  off  for  a  horse  stable.  We  un- 
hitched our  horses  and  led  them  into  the  stable.  It  hap- 
pened that  there  was  a  hen's  nest  in  the  feed  box  to  which 
I  led  one  of  the  horses  and  in  the  nest  were  five  eggs.  I 
said  to  the  Judge,  'I  don't  believe  I  can  eat  a  mouthful  of 
food  in  that  house  tonight.  I  am  hungry.  I  can  suck  an 
egg  and  I  propose  that  we  suck  these  eggs.'  'All  right,' 
said  the  Judge.  I  handed  him  one  and  took  one  myself, 
broke  the  shell  on  the  manger  and  swallowed  the  contents. 
The  Judge  did  likewise.  We  repeated  the  performance, 
but  when  I  handed  him  the  fifth  egg,  he  said, '  No,  you  take 
that ;  I  can  eat  in  that  house. '  I  took  it.  We  then  went 
out  and  viewed  the  stock.  There  was  quite  a  large  herd 
and  among  them  two  tame  elk  that  had  been  caught  when 
calves  and  reared  with  the  cattle.  The  Judge  kept  saying, 
*  Let's  go  in,'  but  I  put  it  off  as  long  as  I  could,  though  the 
weather  was  cold.  As  soon  as  we  went  into  the  house 
Mrs.  McCormick  went  out  and  I  had  a  good  opportunity  to 
look  over  the  premises.  In  the  middle  of  the  room  stood 
a  pine  board  table  covered  with  as  nice  a  clean,  white, 
linen  table  cloth  as  I  ever  beheld.  On  the  center  of  the 
table  sat  a  large  plate  of  buns,  baked  to  a  nice  brown.  On 
one  side  of  the  buns  sat  a  plate  of  potatoes,  cooked  with 
their  jackets  on,  and  on  the  other  side  was  a  platter  of  fried 
ham.  There  was  also  two  kinds  of  fruit,  which  turned  out 
to  be  preserved  wild  crabapples  and  preserved  wild  plums. 


48  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

On  the  stove  sat  the  tea  kettle  and  the  teapot  and  the  skillet 
in  which  the  ham  was  fried  with  the  grease  still  in  it.  In 
one  comer  of  the  room  was  a  bed  (in  which  we  slept  that 
night),  with  curtains  extending  from  the  ceiling  to  the 
floor.  Presently  Mrs.  McCormick  returned,  took  the  skil- 
let off  the  stove,  turned  the  grease  on  to  the  platter  of  ham, 
then  took  the  teapot  and  began  pouring  the  tea.  As  she 
did  so,  she  said,  'Sit  up.  It's  ready.  I  intended  to  have 
some  eggs  for  you  to  eat  with  your  ham,  but  something 
has  taken  them.'  I  liked  nothing  better  than  fried  ham 
and  eggs  in  those  days,  but  I  had  stolen  my  supper  and 
eaten  it  raw. ' '  ^ 

Another  early  settler  in  what  is  now  Fern  Valley  town- 
ship was  William  Shippey,  who  built  a  cabin  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  a  few  miles  below  where  the  old  trail 
crossed  Cylinder  Creek.  He  came  to  the  county  in  the 
spring  of  1856,  and  his  cabin  was  the  half-way  house  be- 
tween McCormick 's  and  the  Irish  settlement.  For  quite  a 
number  of  years  his  house  stood  alone  without  any  neigh- 
bors near  at  hand.  Thos.  Cahill  and  Orrin  Sylvester  were 
two  other  settlers  who  settled  across  the  river  a  few  miles 
west  from  Shippey 's.  In  the  spring  of  1857  the  Hickeys, 
who  had  spent  the  winter  with  the  Irish  colony,  moved 
across  the  river  to  section  35,  Emmetsburg  township.  The 
Hickey  cabin  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  just  across 
northwest  from  what  is  now  known  as  the  Burns  bridge, 
where  Mrs.  Gibbs  now  lives.  In  those  early  days  the 
Hickeys  kept  a  small  skiff  by  means  of  which  they  ferried 
people  across  the  river.  Somewhat  later  there  was  a 
bridge,  but  that  was  washed  out  during  the  spring  rains 
and  the  ferry  boat  continued  to  be  the  only  means  of  trans- 
portation across  the  river  at  this  point  until  about  1875  or 
1876,  when  the  county  bridge  was  built.    When  Mr.  Hickey 

1  Letter  of  J.  N.  Prouty,  Humboldt. 


Myles  Mahan 


NEW  SETTLERS  —  1856-1862  49 

was  elected  county  judge  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
organization  of  the  county/ 

In  the  spring  of  1857,  Myles  Mahan  and  his  wife  Mary 
Ann,  five  sons,  Miles  E.,  James,  John,  Patrick,  William, 
and  four  daughters,  Mary,  Anna,  Maggie,  and  Esther, 
came  to  Palo  Alto  County  and  selected  a  location  on  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  22-97-33,  in  the  edge  of  the 
timber  near  the  river.  They  built  a  log  cabin  about  16  x  24, 
which  was  a  large  house  for  those  days,  and  as  many  as 
sixty  persons  have  stayed  all  night  there.^  They  had 
wagon  box  beds  piled  one  above  the  other  and  these  could 
accommodate  a  large  number.  There  was  no  floor  in  the 
house,  and  one  little  window  of  one  small  pane  of  glass  not 
over  10  X 12.  The  cellar  went  down  under  the  bed  so  as  to 
keep  anyone  from  falling  in.  There  was  a  root  house 
outside  for  larger  storage,  as  the  inside  one  was  small. 
The  cabin  was  in  the  edge  of  the  timber  and  right  where  the 
bluff  slopes  off  to  the  east  rather  abruptly.  The  cabin 
was  then  about  twenty-five  rods  from  the  comer  stake  of 
section  22.  One  night  Miles  Mahan  was  taking  stock  of 
his  provisions  and  found  that  all  he  had  was  one  sack  of 
corn  meal.  He  went  to  bed  with  a  heavy  heart,  as  it  was 
all  he  had  in  the  world  and  no  money.  He  had  not  yet 
gone  to  sleep  when  a  knock  was  heard  and  there  stood 
Captain  Martin  and  forty  soldiers  who  were  out  scouting. 
The  Mahans  worked  all  night  feeding  and  caring  for  the 
company  and  the  next  morning  the  meal  was  gone,  but 
they  had  $40  in  money  and  felt  that  they  could  begin  again 
with  new  energy  the  pioneer  fight  for  life.  At  a  later 
time  Captain  Martin  and  a  squad  of  soldiers  brought 
Umposhota  and  one  other  Indian  on  the  way  to  Fort 
Dodge  and  then  to  Des  Moines  where  they  were  to  be  hung 
for  having  participated  in  the  Spirit  Lake  massacre.    Mrs. 

1  Those  events  will  be  more  fully  treated  in  a  later  chapter. 

2  Interview  with  M.  E.  Mahan. 


50  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Mahan  drew  a  revolver  and  was  for  shooting  the  Indians 
on  the  spot,  but  the  captain  begged  her  not  to  fire  and 
finally  she  put  up  the  weapon.  That  night  the  Indians, 
pretending  to  be  sick,  went  out  and  started  off  down  the 
bluffs.  The  soldiers  shot  after  them,  but  Mrs.  Mahan  said 
to  stop  shooting  and  she  would  get  them,  and  taking  the 
dog  with  her  to  track  them,  started  out  in  full  chase.  The 
dog  got  in  a  fight  with  the  Indian  dog,  lost  the  trail,  and 
the  Indians  made  good  their  escape.  Mrs.  Mahan  was  a 
type  of  the  fearless  frontier  woman,  who  knew  no  danger 
and  no  f ear.^  The  Mahan  cabin  was  thirty-five  miles  from 
Spirit  Lake  and  the  only  house  this  side  of  Spirit  Lake. 
So  all  the  travel  from  Spirit  Lake  to  Fort  Dodge  stopped 
at  Mahan 's  and  it  was  the  refuge  for  weary  sojourners 
for  many  years.  For  twelve  years  they  kept  a  sort  of 
tavern.  J.  P.  Dolliver  stayed  there  many  a  night,  rolled 
up  in  his  blanket,  and  slept  on  the  floor,  and  always  had  his 
dollar  to  pay  for  his  lodging  and  breakfast.^  Myles  Mahan 
was  a  courageous  old  man  and  refused  to  leave  even  when 
the  Indian  scare  was  at  its  height.  Once  when  the  Indians 
were  reported  as  coming,  Ned  Mahan,  who  had  gone  to 
Laughlins  for  safety  with  the  other  settlers,  started  out 
alone  with  his  gun  to  meet  the  Indians  so  as  to  have  a  good 
shot  at  them.  He  was  also  a  fearless  man.  In  the  sixties 
Myles  built  a  new  house  16x24,  12  feet  high.  This  was 
shingled  with  oak  shingles,  and  was  a  better  house  than 
the  old  one.  It  was  considered  one  of  the  best  houses  in 
Northwestern  Iowa.  The  logs  were  all  scored  down  to 
six  inches  thick  and  carefully  laid.  In  1858,  Myles  Mahan 
lined  up  a  road  from  his  house  north  to  Spirit  Lake.  He 
sharpened  willow  sticks  and  set  them  along  in  a  line  to 
mark  the  trail.  Before  that  the  trail  was  dim  and  travel- 
ers got  lost  and  couldn't  find  their  way  over  the  vast 

1  Interview  with  M.  E.  Mahan.     '*  Early  Days  on  the  West  Fork,"  by 
Ambrose  A.  Call,  in  Upper  Des  Moines  Republican,  August  15,  1906. 

2  Interview  with  M.  E.  Mahan. 


NEW  SETTLERS  — 1856-1862  51 

prairie,  every  one  making  a  track  of  his  own  around  the 
sloughs  and  ponds. 

Trapping  was  the  salvation  of  the  early  settlers.  Uncle 
Ned  Mahan  made  $75  trapping  in  one  day.  The  sale  of 
furs,  etc.,  was  what  kept  the  people  supplied  with  money. 

In  the  fall  of  1857,  Myles  Mahan  went  up  to  Mankato, 
Minn.,  for  groceries  and  supplies  and  on  the  return  the 
oxen,  which  were  dusty  and  warm  from  the  long  trip,  saw 
Spirit  Lake  and  ran  away  to  get  in  the  water  and  cool  off. 
They  were  well  trained  or  they  would  have  dumped  all 
that  precious  load  of  provisions  into  the  water.  As  it 
was  they  stood  until  cooled  off  and  then  he  started  them 
off  on  the  trip  home  and  arrived  safely. 

Prairie  fires  were  a  great  menace  in  those  days.  The 
fires  traveled  over  the  prairie  faster  than  a  horse  could 
run  and  would  jump  the  river  where  it  was  from  seventy 
to  one  hundred  feet  wide.  Many  settlers  here  lost  all 
their  property  and  barely  escaped  with  their  lives  in  the 
path  of  those  terrific  prairie  fires.  The  grasshoppers 
were  a  fearful  pest  in  1873  and  later  years.  M.  E.  Mahan 
remembers  rowing  down  the  river  to  Emmetsburg  when 
the  hoppers  were  a  foot  thick  on  the  water  and  more  com- 
ing over  the  banks  just  like  a  waterfall,^ 

Patrick  Nolan  was  another  who  settled  in  the  timber 
along  the  river  not  far  from  the  Irish  colony  in  1857.  He 
was  jocularly  called  "Paddy  in  the  Bush"  by  the  settlers, 
to  distinguish  him  from  two  other  Patrick  Nolans  who 
soon  after  settled  in  the  county. 

William  Murphy  came  to  the  county  in  October,  1857, 
and  pre-empted  the  southwest  quarter  of  30-96-32  and 
lived  there  until  he  proved  up.  His  log  shanty  was  built 
near  what  is  known  as  the  John  Doran  place.  Mr.  Mur- 
phy was  a  single  man  and  did  teaming  and  other  work  at 
Fort  Dodge.    After  helping  lay  out  the  ill-fated  county- 

1  Interview  with  M.  E.  Mahan,  Graettinger. 


52  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

seat  on  the  bank  of  Medium  Lake  in  1858,  he  that  fall  re- 
turned to  Fort  Dodge  and  as  times  were  hard  went  back 
east  to  look  for  work,  and  did  not  return  to  Palo  Alto 
County  and  settle  permanently  until  May,  1871/ 

Michael  Jackman  and  family  built  a  cabin  on  the  east 
bank  of  Medium  Lake  and  their  hospitable  home  was  well 
known  among  the  early  travelers  from  the  east  who  passed 
that  way.  They  became  prominent  in  the  later  affairs  of 
the  county.  That  old  cabin  still  stands  as  one  of  the  few 
remaining  landmarks  of  those  early  days. 

John  L.  Davis  was  another  settler  who  came  here  in  1858 
and  lived  across  the  river  in  Great  Oak  township,  where 
the  McCoy  farm  now  is.  He  had  oxen  enough  so  that  he 
could  run  a  large  riding  breaking  plow.  This  was  one  of 
the  first  riding  plows  in  the  county.  He  would  let  his  wife 
ride  and  he  would  drop  corn.  He  was  one  of  the  judges  of 
election  in  1859  and  it  is  said  that  there  was  some  difficulty 
in  that  election  on  account  of  several  people  who  tried  to 
vote,  although  they  had  practically  left  the  county  and 
had  simply  come  back  for  some  of  their  goods.  Mr.  Davis 
as  judge  of  election  made  them  swear  in  their  vote  before 
he  would  allow  them  to  participate  in  the  election.  He 
only  stayed  in  this  county  until  1860,  when  he  left  and  did 
not  return.  ^  It  was  rumored  shortly  after  he  left  that  this 
man  Davis  was  a  horse  thief  and  was  a  part  of  the  gang 
that  was  working  this  whole  part  of  the  country.  One  of 
the  vigilance  committee  from  this  county  who  was  down 
at  Iowa  Falls  when  they  rounded  up  this  gang  there,  re- 
ported that  Davis  was  among  the  number,  but  that  they 
could  not  prove  anything  against  him  and  had  to  let  him 
go.  Years  later  a  cave  for  horses  was  discovered  in  the 
bank  of  the  river  near  his  place.  This  band  of  horse 
thieves  was  a  notorious  affair  in  1856  and  1857.    They 

1  Interview  with  William  Murphy. 

2  Statement  M.  H.  Crowley. 


Martin  Coonan 


Mrs.  Catherine  Coonan 


NEW  SETTLERS  — 1856-1862  53 

were  well  organized  and  had  various  rendezvous  and  sta- 
tions along  the  frontier.  They  became  so  bold  in  their 
depredations  and  such  a  menace  to  the  communities  that 
the  settlers  organized  and  finally  cleaned  the  band  out  in 
1858.  They  were  rounded  up  by  the  sheriff  and  his  posse 
in  Grundy  County,  and  several  of  them  were  hung.  A 
number  of  underground  stables  were  later  found  and  evi- 
dences were  abundant  as  to  the  large  territory  covered  by 
these  transactions.  Several  of  the  citizens  of  Palo  Alto 
County  remember  this  band  and  their  operations  very 
well.  They  did  not  molest  the  settlers  here  so  much,  but 
they  were  a  continual  menace  to  the  peace  and  safety  of 
the  people  and  the  early  settlers  were  very  glad  when 
these  desperadoes  were  finally  rounded  up.^ 

William  Reed  and  family  lived  near  the  Davis  place.  He 
had  two  sons,  and  one  winter  they  got  lost  and  were  out 
all  night  and  one  of  the  boys  froze  his  foot  so  badly  that 
it  had  to  be  taken  off.  A  trapper  by  the  name  of  Ward 
Whitman  stayed  with  them  one  winter  and  made  quite  a 
large  catch. 

Martin  Coonan  and  Catherine  his  wife,  and  five  boys, 
bought  a  farm  on  the  bank  of  the  river  half  a  mile  south 
of  the  Irish  colony.  They  moved  on  to  their  land  in  1858, 
built  a  cabin  and  began  the  work  of  clearing  up  the  timber 
and  preparing  for  a  permanent  home.  This  land  is  now 
known  as  ' '  Riverdale  ' '  farm.  The  important  events  that 
transpired  at  this  historic  spot  will  be  more  fully  treated 
in  a  later  chapter.^ 

Another  new  settler  was  James  McCosker,  who  was 
elected  the  first  county  surveyor  in  1858.  He  did  not, 
however,  remain  long  in  the  county.    John  L.  Davis  was 

1  statements  by  A.  B.  Carter,  M.  H,  Crowley,  M.  E.  Mahan  and  others. 
For  evidence  that  this  gang  operated  over  a  wide  territory  in  Iowa,  see 
"Chronological  History  of  Cedar  Rapids,"  Cedar  Bapids  Republican,  June, 
1906.     Gue's  History  of  Iowa,  vol.  i,  chap,  xzvii. 

2  Chapter  xi. 


54  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

the  second  surveyor  to  be  elected,  as  he  was  chosen  at  the 
election  of  the  following  year. 

**  Tom  Tobin,  his  father,  mother,  and  sister  Alice,  and 
Joe  and  Kern  Mulroney  came  in  the  year  1857  and  old 
Mrs.  Mulroney  and  Maggie  came  one  year  later.  The 
Sheas,  Coonans,  Pendergasts,  I  think,  came  in  the  spring 
of  1858."^ 

Among  the  other  settlers  who  came  to  this  part  of  the 
county  about  this  time  were:  Thomas  Maher,  William 
Maher,  Daniel  Kane,  Thomas  Downey,  Thomas  Dawson 
and  Patrick  Lynch.  All  of  these  settlers  had  settled  in 
the  county  by  1860. 

In  the  first  few  years  of  settlement  in  the  county  the 
task  of  threshing  the  grain  was  a  difficult  one.  One  of  the 
ways  devised  by  Martin  Coonan  was  quite  generally  used. 
The  bundles  of  grain  would  be  laid  on  the  ground  in  a 
large  circle  and  then  a  horse  would  be  led  around  on  the 
circle  of  bundles  and  thus  stamp  out  the  grain  on  the 
ground  and  his  hoofs  would  grind  up  the  straw  much  as  a 
modem  threshing  machine.  They  would  then  gather  up 
the  grain  and  holding  it  up  in  the  air  let  it  fall  on  to  a 
sheet  on  a  windy  day  when  the  breeze  would  blow  the 
chaff  and  dirt  out  of  the  grain.  It  was  hard  work,  but  the 
wheat  and  oats  and  small  crops  of  other  grains  were  very 
precious  in  those  days  with  the  market  so  far  away  and 
grain  and  feed  of  all  kinds  so  very  scarce.^ 

'*  Palo  Alto  got  its  first  mail  service  in  1858.  The  first 
trip  from  Algona  to  Spirit  Lake  started  July  1st  that 
year.  The  first  postoffice  was  at  Jack  Nolan's,  Mr.  Nolan 
being  the  postmaster.  It  was  called  Emmetsburg.  When 
routes  were  established  from  Fort  Dodge  to  Spirit  Lake, 
and  Fort  Dodge  to  Jackson,  a  postoffice  was  established 

1 ' '  Some  Eeminiscences  of  a  Pioneer, ' '  by  Chas.  McCormick,  Reporter, 
August  2,  1906.    See  also  same  article,  Semi-Centennial  Eecord,  pp.  389-90. 
2  Eecollections  of  Martin  Coonan,  Jr. 


NEW  SETTLERS  —  1856-1862  55 

at  Mulroney's,  called  Soda  Bar,  with  Mulroney  as  Nasby, 
and  one  at  McCormick's  on  the  east  side,  called  Fern  Val- 
ley, Thomas  McCormick  postmaster,  and  Nolan's  office 
was  moved  over  on  the  river  and  Martin  Coonan  made 
postmaster.  There  never  was  a  postoffice  in  the  county 
called  Paoli."^  When  the  postoffice  was  first  established 
at  Nolan's,  the  mail  which  came  once  a  week  was  put  in  a 
big  milk  pan  and  the  settlers  would  come  over  on  Sunday 
afternoons  and  pick  out  their  own  mail  from  the  pan.^ 
This  practice  also  served  as  a  social  feature,  as  the  var- 
ious families  thus  came  together  at  a  common  center  to 
visit  and  talk  over  events  transpiring  in  the  local  com- 
munity as  well  as  the  news  from  the  outside  world. 

The  settlers  in  the  county  very  early  began  to  inaug- 
urate some  needed  improvements.  Schools  were  organ- 
ized, religious  services  were  held,  better  houses  were  being 
built,  and  social  intercourse  encouraged. 

In  the  summer  of  1861,  J.  P.  White  taught  school  in  a 
cabin  in  Walnut  township.  This  was  the  first  school 
taught  in  the  county.  M.  H.  Crowley  still  has  in  his  pos- 
session a  McGuffey's  speller  with  his  name  and  the  date 
showing  that  it  is  the  book  that  he  used  at  that  first  term 
of  school.  School  books  were  procured  from  Fort  Dodge 
and  the  old  settlers  say  the  books  they  used  in  those  days 
were  the  same  recognized  authorities  and  that  there  was 
no  trouble  about  different  kinds  of  books  or  new  editions. 
They  were  always  the  same;  and  reading,  writing  and 
arithmetic,  with  some  geography,  was  the  invariable 
course  of  study .^ 

1  "Early  Days  on  the  West  Fork,"  by  Ambrose  A.  CaU,  in  the  Algona 
Upper  Des  Moines  Bepublican,  August  15,  1906.  The  above  facts  are 
verified  by  statements  of  M,  H.  Crowley,  Chas.  Nolan,  Lott  Laughlin,  and 
others. 

2  Statement  of  Chas.  Nolan. 

3  Statement  of  M.  H.  Crowley,  supplemented  by  the  recollections  of  many 
others. 


56  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

A  little  later  in  the  same  year  a  log  school  house  was 
built  at  West  Bend,  Mr.  Carter  hauling  the  finishing  lum- 
ber from  Boone.  Mary  E.  Mathews  of  Irvington,  Kossuth 
County,  was  the  teacher.^ 

"  The  first  religious  service  held  in  the  county  was  by 
Father  Marsh  of  the  Catholic  church,  in  the  year  1859  or 
1860.  Father  McComb,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  held  the 
first  Protestant  service  in  the  summer  of  1860.  This  ser- 
vice was  held  in  my  father's  cabin  in  Fern  Valley  town- 
ship. A  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  and  services 
held  at  my  father's  house.  Services  were  also  held  at 
Carter's,  at  old  West  Bend,  at  McKnight's  Point,  and  at 
Powhattan  in  Pocahontas  County.  The  Struthers,  Hen- 
dersons, Frazers  and  others  joined  this  little  body  of 
church-going  people,  among  whom  were  Seth  Sharp,  Percy 
Nowhan,  James  and  John  Jolliffe,  and  Abel  Hais,  and  they 
all  did  their  best  to  sustain  this  little  Presbyterian  church. 
The  church  survived,  though  at  times  it  was  nip  and  tuck, 
but  in  the  end  all  came  out  right. ' '  ^ 

In  the  early  sixties  a  postoffice  was  established  at 
Tobin's  called  ''  Soda  Bar."  This  was  on  the  route  of 
the  weekly  mail  service  from  the  south  and  was  very  con- 
venient for  the  settlers  there.  Tom  Tobin  was  the  first 
postmaster,  but  his  sister  Alice  (who  later  married  Thom- 
as Kirby)  was  the  real  postmistress  for  several  years. 

About  the  same  time  a  postoffice  was  established  at 
Hickey's  across  the  river,  called  "  Great  Oak."  There 
were  several  large  oak  trees  standing  in  the  Hickey  yard 
and  this  gave  the  name  to  the  postoffice,  and  later  the  same 
name  was  given  to  the  township  when  it  was  organized. 

A  lull  in  settlement  occurred  in  1861  and  1862.  The 
difficulty  in  getting  land  titles  and  the  distractions  of  the 

1  statement  of  A.  B.  Carter.  Mr.  Carter  was  the  school  director  who 
hired  this  teacher  and  he  remembers  distinctly  that  this  school  started  a 
short  time  after  the  school  in  Walnut  township. 

2  ' '  Some  Eeminiscences  of  a  Pioneer, ' '  by  Chas.  McCormick, 


Thos.  Tobin 


J.  L.  Martin 


OF  THE 


NEW  SETTLERS  —  1856-1862  57 

war  prevented  the  further  growth  of  the  county  for  a 
time.  This  period  of  growth  came  to  an  end,  but  it  was 
only  a  short  time  before  a  new  line  of  development  opened 
up  for  the  county  enlarged  opportunities  for  progress. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Early  Speculative  County-seats 

Visions  of  riches  made  over  night  has  always  been  the 
dream  of  the  county-seat  promoter.  If  he  could  only  lo- 
cate a  town  that  would  become  the  county-seat,  his  fortune 
would  be  made.  But  many  a  well  laid  scheme  turned  out 
to  be  only  a  bubble.  The  western  country  in  the  early  days 
was  full  of  such  ' '  stake-towns  ' '  and  towns  on  paper. 
Palo  Alto  was  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and  the  story  of 
the  early  attempts  to  locate  a  county-seat  presents  an  in- 
teresting chapter  in  our  history. 

As  early  as  1858  three  Fort  Dodge  speculators,  Hooli- 
han,  Cahill,  and  Cavenaugh  by  name,  came  up  to  Palo 
Alto  County.  They  brought  a  surveyor  with  them  and 
made  extensive  plans  for  laying  out  a  town.  William 
Murphy,  then  a  young  man  who  had  come  to  this  county  in 
October,  1857,  and  pre-empted  a  claim  (southwest  quarter 
of  section  30-96-32),  and  was  living  there  for  the  purpose 
of  proving  up,  and  was  also  doing  teaming  from  Port 
Dodge,  was  employed  to  assist  in  laying  out  the  town.  A 
site  was  selected  on  the  west  bank  of  Medium  Lake  at  its 
southern  extremity,  where  Call's  addition  to  our  present 
county-seat  is  now  platted.  This  was  but  a  mile  and  a 
quarter  from  the  log  cabin  of  Martin  Coonan,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Des  Moines  River,  at  the  place  which  is  now 
known  as  the  Riverdale  farm. 

These  parties  surveyed  and  staked  out  a  town  and  then 
proceeded  to  build  a  log  court  house,  store,  and  black- 
smith shop.  As  yet  the  town  was  without  a  name,  but  one 
day  when  the  buildings  were  well  under  way  the  four  were 


EARLY  SPECULATIVE  COUNTY-SEATS  59 

talking  the  question  over.  Hoolihan,  who  was  a  very  well 
educated  man  and  an  enthusiastic  champion  of  the  cause 
of  the  oppressed  Irish,  suggested  that  they  name  the  town 
after  Kobert  Emmet,  the  fearless  Irish  patriot,  of  whom 
he  was  a  great  admirer.  In  order  to  distinguish  it  from 
Emmet  County,  the  name  * '  Emmetsburg ' '  was  finally 
agreed  upon,  and  the  four  men  returned  to  their  work, 
full  of  hope  for  the  future  which  was  to  see  their  town  of 
Emmetsburg  the  metropolis  of  Palo  Alto  County.  Their 
dreams  were  in  fact  realized  many  years  later,  but  they 
did  not  reap  the  benefit,  and  it  was  only  after  many  tem- 
porary expedients  and  many  vicissitudes  that  Enunets- 
burg  became  the  thriving  county-seat  that  it  now  is.  But 
alas  for  their  hopes !  Their  money  gave  out  and  they  were 
obliged  to  abandon  the  enterprise  and  return  to  Fort 
Dodge. 

This  town  was  therefore  never  oflficially  platted,  or  filed 
for  record.  The  buildings  stood  for  some  time,  until  they 
were  probably  hauled  away  by  someone  who,  no  doubt, 
considered  that  he  needed  the  logs  a  great  deal  more  than 
did  the  stakes  in  the  abandoned  town.  Although  the  ven- 
ture was  a  financial  failure  and  disappointing  to  the  high 
hopes  of  its  promoters,  yet  the  name  '  *  Emmetsburg ' ' 
clung  to  the  stake-town,  and  persisted  through  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune  until  it  was  finally  preserved  to  posterity 
and  became  an  important  factor  in  our  county's  history.^ 

In  1859  another  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  county- 
seat.  John  M.  Stockdale,  representing  a  syndicate  of 
speculators  from  Fort  Dodge,  bought  up  the  swamp  land 
of  the  county  in  payment  for  which  he  agreed  to  build  a 
court  house  and  school  house.  He  was  an  influential  man, 
besides  being  on  the  inside  of  state  politics,  ^  so  he  easily 

1  This  description  follows  the  facts  as  given  by  Wm.  Murphy,  who 
remembers  them  distinctly,  and  he  is  corroborated  by  others. 

2  Stockdale  was  a  cousin  of  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood,  governor  of  the  state 
in  1860. 


60  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

secured  the  appointment  of  county-seat  commissioners 
favorable  to  him/  Accordingly  Judge  C.  J.  McFarland, 
district  judge  of  the  5th  Judicial  District  of  Iowa,  ap- 
pointed Cyrus  C.  Carpenter  of  Webster  County,  John 
Straight  of  Pocahontas  County,  and  William  Pollock  of 
Webster  County,  to  locate  the  county-seat  of  Palo  Alto 
County.  On  January  3, 1859,  they  located  it  on  the  north 
half  of  section  No.  6,  in  township  No.  95  north,  range  No. 
32  west  of  the  5th  P.  M.,  on  the  town  plat  of  Paoli.  This 
was  a  town  on  paper,  supposed  to  be  located  on  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Dooley,  or  Consigny,  farm,  two  miles 
south  of  Emmetsburg.  It  was  here  that  Stockdale  had 
procured  control  of  the  land  and  proposed  to  build  the 
county-seat  as  a  nucleus  for  a  thriving  city. 

In  accordance  with  his  contract  with  the  county.  Stock- 
dale  began  to  build  a  brick  court  house  and  school  house 
at  Paoli,  but  the  work  dragged  along  and  when  completed 
the  court  house  fell  down  and  was  rebuilt  one-half  as  large 
as  the  original  specifications  called  for.  Considerable  liti- 
gation resulted  over  this,  but  was  finally  compromised. 

Somehow  the  new  town  did  not  prove  attractive.  Court 
was  held  there  for  a  time,  but  the  judge  and  others  in  at- 
tendance had  to  go  several  miles  away  to  the  nearest  set- 
tler for  their  meals  and  lodging,  and  so  the  bleak  old  court 
house  was  finally  abandoned  for  more  comfortable  quar- 
ters and  soon  fell  into  decay.  The  time  had  proved  in- 
auspicious for  the  founding  of  a  town,  the  surrounding 
territory  was  not  sufficiently  settled  to  make  a  town  neces- 
sary, and  the  plans  of  the  promoters  of  the  county-seat 
failed  utterly. 

Thus  the  county  lost  the  money  they  put  into  the  public 
buildings  and  the  speculators  failed  to  realize  their  antici- 
pated profits.    The  town  of  Paoli  never  was  more  than  a 

1  See  sketch  of  ' '  Early  Days  on  the  West  Fork, ' '  by  Ambrose  A.  Call  in 
Algona  Upper  Des  Moines,  August  15,  1906. 


EARLY  SPECULATIVE  COUNTY-SEATS  61 

possibility.  The  frost  finally  cracked  the  walls  of  the  old 
court  house  so  badly  that  *  *  the  settlers  considering  it  dan- 
gerous to  their  stock  which  congregated  inside  to  fight 
away  the  flies,  made  a  bee  and  tore  it  down. ' '  ^  Later  the 
bricks  were  hauled  away  and  a  few  years  afterward  no 
trace  remained  on  the  prairie  of  the  once  loudly  heralded 
town  of  Paoli,  the  county- seat  of  Palo  Alto  County. 


1 ' '  Early  Dayg  on  the  West  Fork, ' '  by  Ambrose  A.  Call. 


CHAPTEK  VIII 

The  Political  Organization  of  the  County 

No  community  of  people  can  long  exist  without  the 
formation  of  some  sort  of  local  government.  That ' '  man 
is  by  nature  a  political  animal  "  is  as  true  in  our  age  as  in 
the  time  of  Aristotle.  The  early  settlers  in  various  parts 
of  Iowa  felt  that  the  territorial  or  state  government  was 
too  remote  or  too  inefficient  to  help  them,  so  they  formed 
'*  claim  clubs  "  to  protect  their  lands  from  claim  jumpers 
and  their  homes  from  frontier  violence,^  and  these  same 
clubs  were  the  first  law  and  order  organizations  in  the  new 
country. 

The  early  settlers  of  Palo  Alto  County  began  to  feel  the 
need  of  a  county  organization,  soon  after  they  had  become 
permanently  settled  in  their  new  home.  That  portion  of 
Northwestern  Iowa  had  been  a  part  of  the  original  Fayette 
County  established  in  1837  by  the  Territorial  Legislature 
of  Wisconsin,  and  after  Iowa  Territory  was  formed  was 
continued  under  the  name  until  1847.^ 

The  3rd  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa  passed 
an  act  establishing  forty-nine  new  counties,  this  act  hav- 
ing been  approved  January  15,  1851.*  Palo  Alto  County 
was  in  the  list  and  the  boundaries  then  imposed  have  ever 
since  remained  unchanged.    The  events  of  the  Mexican 

1  See  the  author 's  ' '  Early  Social  and  Eeligious  Experiments  in  Iowa, ' ' 
in  the  January,  1902,  number  of  Iowa  Historical  Becord,  and  works  there 
cited. 

2  Journal  Wisconsin  Territorial  Legislature.  See  also  an  excellent  series 
of  articles  on  the  establishment  and  boundaries  of  the  Iowa  counties,  by 
Prof.  Frank  H.  Garver,  Iowa  Journal  of  History  and  Politics,  July,  1908, 
January,  1909,  and  July,  1909. 

sLaws  of  Iowa,  1850-51,  p.  27. 


THE  POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  63 

War  were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  legislators,  and 
they  named  this  county  after  the  memorable  battle  of  Palo 
Alto/ 

The  northwest  part  of  the  state  was,  however,  still  un- 
settled, and  so  for  governmental  purposes  the  county  of 
Palo  Alto  was  attached  to  Boone  County  in  1853.^  In  1855 
it  was  attached  to  Webster  County  ' '  for  election,  judicial 
and  revenue  purposes."^  It  thus  remained  as  a  part  of 
Webster  County  until  a  separate  county  organization  was 
established  in  1858.  This  was  an  uncertain  and  unsatis- 
factory arrangement  for  the  early  settlers  of  the  county, 
and  gave  rise  to  much  inconvenience  and  some  litigation. 
One  case  over  a  land  title  was  carried  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  decided  that  a  conveyance  of  lands  in  Palo 
Alto  County  made  in  the  year  1857  was  properly  recorded 
in  Webster  County,  and  that  such  record  was  constructive 
notice  to  a  subsequent  purchaser  after  the  organization  of 
Palo  Alto  County.*  It  is  easy  to  see  what  a  continuing 
train  of  difficulties  would  follow  such  dual  allegiance,  as 
well  as  the  trouble  incident  to  traveling  such  a  distance  to 
the  county-seat. 

In  1858  the  settlers  took  definite  steps  towards  organiz- 
ing a  county  government.  An  election  was  held  October 
2,  1858,  but  as  the  necessary  preliminaries  had  not  been 
taken,  it  proved  illegal.  The  settlers  then  drew  up  a  peti- 
tion and  sent  it  to  Fort  Dodge.  Luther  L.  Pease,  then 
county  judge  of  Webster  County,  granted  the  petition, 
and  called  an  election  to  be  held  Dec.  20,  1858.  This  was 
the  first  regular  election  held  in  Palo  Alto  County.  James 
Hickey  and  James  Nolan  were  the  election  judges  and  the 
voting  was  done  at  Thomas  Downey 's  cabin  for  the  north- 

1  The  battle  of  Palo  Alto  was  the  first  decisive  victory  of  the  Americans 
in  Mexico,  May  8,  1846. 

2  Acts  3rd  General  Assembly,  Laws  of  Iowa,  1853. 

3  Acts  5th  General  Assembly,  Laws  of  Iowa,  1855,  chap.  142. 
*  Meagher  vs.  Drury,  89  Iowa,  366. 


64  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

em  settlers  and  at  Wm.  Carter's  cabin  for  the  settlers  in 
the  southeast  of  the  county.  All  the  settlers  in  the  county 
were  Democrats,  but  the  campaign  was  spirited  on  person- 
al issues  and  soon  developed  a  factional  fight.  The  Hick- 
eys  and  Nolans  became  bitter  rivals.  Ed  Mahan  went 
down  to  West  Bend  to  work  for  James  Nolan  and  Elias 
Downey  for  James  Hickey.  The  Carter  colony  people  all 
voted  for  Hickey,  while  the  McCormicks  voted  for  Nolan. 
This  alignment  turned  the  tide  in  favor  of  the  ' '  Hickey 
party  ' '  and  elected  their  entire  ticket.^ 

The  canvass  of  the  election  board  showed  that  there 
were  44  votes  cast  with  the  following  result : 

County  Judge  —  James  Hickey  27,  James  Nolan  17. 

Clerk  District  Court  —  Felix  McCosker  27,  Martin 
Coonan  17. 

Treasurer  and  Eeeorder  —  John  Mulroney  27,  Martin 
Laughlin  17. 

Drainage  Commissioner  —  John  Shea  27,  Robert  Ship- 
pey  17. 

County  Surveyor  —  James  McCosker  27,  James  Ship- 
pey  17. 

Coroner — Orrin  Sylvester  23,  Jerry  Crowley  17. 

Sheriff  — Thomas  H.  Tobin  28.^ 

All  of  these  officials  were  elected  for  the  term  of  one 
year.  It  is  noticeable  that  all  the  candidates  were  from 
the  Irish  colony  or  near  by  and  that  the  south  part  of  the 
county  was  not  represented  among  the  county  officers. 
The  county  appears  to  have  been  divided  into  two  districts, 
Palo  Alto  township  and  Cylinder  township,  and  as  there 
were  two  voting  places  this  division  was  at  first  evidently 

1  These  facts  as  to  this  first  election  were  given,  me  by  James  Hickey, 
and  A.  B.  Carter.  The  memory  of  each  is  marvelously  clear  as  to  dates 
and  events  of  the  early  county  organization  in  which  they  took  such  promi- 
nent parts.     See  also  Eegister  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  county  auditor's  office. 

2  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  pp.  8  and  9 ;  office  of  county  auditor, 
Palo  Alto  County,  lovpa. 


THE  POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  65 

for  election  purposes,  as  well  as  for  administrative  con- 
venience.^ 

In  addition  to  the  county  officers,  the  following  local 
officials  were  elected  at  the  same  time : 

Joseph  T.  Mulroney  and  John  Nolan  were  elected  con- 
stables, and  Lott  Laughlin  township  clerk,  for  Palo  Alto 
township  for  one  year. 

Samuel  McClelland  was  elected  constable  and  township 
trustee,  and  Wm.  D.  Powers  clerk  for  Cylinder  township 
for  one  year. 

James  McCormick  and  Wm.  D.  Powers  were  elected 
justices  of  the  peace  for  Cylinder  township  for  two  years, 
and  Thomas  H.  Tobin  and  John  Pendergast  were  elected 
justices  of  the  peace  for  Palo  Alto  township  for  two  years.^ 

Thus  the  new  county  was  provided  with  a  full  set  of  of- 
ficers. The  county  judge  was  the  most  important  of  these, 
as  at  that  time  the  county  judge  was  the  executive,  legis- 
lative and  judicial  branches  of  the  county  combined.  He 
performed  all  the  duties  that  are  now  discharged  by  the 
board  of  supervisors,  had  powers  now  exercised  by  the 
district  court  in  its  probate  and  county  jurisdiction,^  be- 
sides having  most  of  the  duties  now  performed  by  the 
county  auditor  and  county  attorney.  As  the  local  court, 
he  had  extensive  judicial  powers,  he  made  all  contracts, 
and  controlled  the  affairs  of  the  county ;  as  financial  head, 
he  levied  the  taxes  and  controlled  their  collection,  and  he 
alone  had  power  to  expend  the  county  funds.  He  also  had 
custody  and  control  of  all  county  property  and  had  large 
powers  as  to  submitting  questions  to  vote  and  calling  elec- 
tions.    The  county  judge,  in  short,  controlled  absolutely 

1  There  is  no  official  record  of  such  division  or  the  boundaries  of  these 
two  townships,  but  the  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  p.  4,  shows  certificate 
of  election  of  justices  of  the  peace,  township  clerks  and  other  officers,  Dec. 
20,    1858,    for    both    "Palo    Alto    Precinct"    and    -'Cylinder    Precinct." 

2  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  1,  pp.  3  and  4 ;  auditor 's  office. 

3  Code,  1851,  chap.  xv. 


66  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

the  general  policy  of  the  county  and  was  in  a  position  to  be 
an  absolute  dictator.  Such  concentration  of  power  in  the 
hands  of  one  man  may  have  been  conducive  to  efficiency, 
but  it  was  a  dangerous  tendency.  It  was  an  unusual  sys- 
tem of  local  government  introduced  in  Iowa  by  the  Code  of 
1851  and  lasted  until  1860  when  a  board  of  supervisors 
was  provided  to  take  over  the  administrative  powers.^ 

With  such  broad  and  absolute  powers  we  can  readily  see 
that  much  would  depend  upon  the  character  of  the  man 
elected  to  the  office  of  county  judge.  If  he  were  extrava- 
gant or  arbitrary  or  dishonest,  he  could  do  incalculable 
harm  to  the  county  and  its  people.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
honest  and  able,  he  would  be  in  a  position  of  authority  that 
would  do  much  to  guide  and  encourage  a  healthy  develop- 
ment of  the  community. 

James  Hickey  was  the  man  selected  by  the  settlers  of 
our  county  as  the  first  county  judge.  It  was  a  position  of 
honor  and  power  and  so  well  did  Judge  Hickey  perform 
the  duties  of  the  office  that  he  was  re-elected  and  served 
until  1861.  He  was  a  competent  official  and  kept  the 
records  in  good  order  and  was  fair  and  impartial  in  dis- 
pensing frontier  justice,^ 

The  other  officers  were  sworn  in  before  Judge  Hickey 
and  were  ready  to  perform  the  duties  of  their  offices.    De- 

i  Laws  of  loxoa,  1860,  chap,  xlvi;  46;  Eevision  1860,  sec.  303. 

2  In  a  personal  letter  to  the  author  under  date  of  July  6,  1906,  the  late 
Charles  Aldrich,  founder  of  the  Historical  Department  of  Iowa,  said: 
"  In  the  summer  of  1858  Cyrus  C.  Carpenter,  afterwards  governor  of  the 
state,  and  I  journeyed  together  to  Spirit  Lake.  I  was  going  there  on  a 
matter  of  business,  and  my  young  friend  Carpenter  went  with  me  to  show 
me  the  way,  as  the  road  for  the  most  jmrt  was  but  a  dim  trail.  We  were 
six  or  eight  days  on  this  expedition.  In  Palo  Alto  County  we  stayed  all 
night  with  Judge  Hickey,  who  lived  in  a  log  cabin.  I  remember  that  the 
Irish  family  were  a  people  of  very  considerable  intelligence.  They  were  cer- 
tainly very  hospitable  and  ministered  to  us  as  far  as  their  resources  permit- 
ted. In  those  days  I  traveled  considerably  through  Northwestern  Iowa, 
staying  with  the  settlers  whenever  night  overtook  me,  but  I  have  today  no 
pleasanter  recollections  of  entertainment  than  those  connected  with  the  home 
of  James  Hickey." 


THE  POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  67 

cember  29th  Judge  Hickey  ordered  the  books  for  county 
records  and  Thos.  Maher  was  allowed  $15.00  for  hauling 
the  books,  papers,  seals,  etc.,  from  Fort  Dodge.^  We  can 
imagine  that  these  frontier  officials  did  not  find  their  du- 
ties burdensome,  and  that  each  officer  found  ample  room 
in  his  own  cabin  for  the  records  of  his  office,  during  these 
early  days. 

The  county  had  no  sooner  been  organized  than  C.  J. 
McFarland,  judge  of  the  5th  Judicial  District  of  Iowa,  ap- 
pointed Cyrus  C.  Carpenter  of  Webster  County,  John  C. 
Straight  of  Pocahontas  County,  and  William  P.  Pollock 
of  Webster  County,  to  locate  the  county-seat  of  Palo  Alto 
County.  The  instructions  to  the  commissioners  were  '  *  to 
locate  said  county-seat  as  near  the  geographical  center  as 
may  be,  having  due  regard  for  the  present  as  well  as  the 
future  population  of  said  county. "  ^  In  accordance  with 
these  instructions  the  commissioners  met  and  on  January 
3,  1859,  they  located  the  county-seat  on  the  north  half  of 
section  6,  township  95,  range  32,  on  the  town  plat  of  Paoli.^ 
This  was  the  visionary  county-seat  whose  history  has  al- 
ready been  recorded  in  the  last  chapter. 

On  December  29,  1858,  James  Hickey,  county  judge, 
having  previously  advertised  for  bids,  entered  into  a  con- 
tract with  Andrew  Hood  of  Webster  County,  the  lowest 
bidder,  by  the  terms  of  which  Hood  was  to  select  and  sur- 
vey the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands  of  the  county,  and 
make  full  maps  and  plats  of  same.  He  was  to  receive  four 
and  one-half  cents  per  acre  therefor,  payable  in  bonds  of 
the  county  on  certain  terms  prescribed  in  said  contract.* 

1  Minute  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  5,  auditor 's  office.  This  rec- 
ord book  was  thus  designated  until  the  Board  of  Supervisors  took  charge. 
Thereafter  the  same  book  was  used  and  known  as  Minute  and  Supervisors' 
Record  of  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i. 

2  Minute  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  1. 

•  Minute  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  2. 

*  Minute  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  11.  The  record  is  also 
supplemented  by  statements  of  Judge  Hickey. 


68  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Accordingly  Mr.  Hood  proceeded  to  select,  classify  and 
survey  the  so-called  swamp  land  of  the  county. 

Under  the  law  of  the  state  at  that  time,  these  swamp 
lands  could  be  sold  and  the  proceeds  used  by  the  county 
for  erecting  public  buildings.  In  order  that  the  county 
might  have  a  court  house  and  other  public  improvements, 
Judge  Hickey  entered  into  a  contract  with  William  E. 
Clark  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  to  build  a  court  house  and  school 
house  at  Paoli  and  two  county  bridges  across  the  river,  in 
return  for  which  the  county  was  to  deed  him  the  swamp 
lands.^ 

The  contract  with  regard  to  the  court  house  called  for  a 
brick  building,  36  x  50,  two  stories  in  height,  of  very  plain 
construction,  using  brick  made  in  the  vicinity.  It  was  to 
be  heated  by  stoves.  The  building  was  to  be  divided  by 
partitions  on  the  first  floor  into  a  hall  and  four  offices  for 
the  county  officers.  Above  was  the  court  room  furnished 
with  ' '  seating  made  of  good  planks  oiled  and  varnished. ' ' 

The  school  house  was  to  be  a  one-story  structure,  built 
of  brick,  20x24  feet  in  size,  with  twelve-light  windows. 
The  contract  also  covered  two  county  bridges  over  the 
river,  one  near  section  7-95-32,  and  the  other  near  section 
21-94-31. 

Judge  Hickey  on  December  19, 1859,  issued  a  proclama- 
tion calling  a  special  election,  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  sections  114  and  115  of  the  code  of  1851  and  acts 
subsequent  thereto,  to  determine  whether  or  not  the  county 
would  approve  of  deeding  the  swamp  lands  to  build  public 
improvements.^  It  was  the  general  custom  among  the 
counties  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state  to  do  this,  as  it 
would  provide  adequate  public  buildings  and  other  im- 
provements without  the  necessity  of  bonding  the  county  or 
saddling  a  heavy  debt  upon  the  people  who  were  not  able 

1  Minute  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  pp.   25-40. 

2  Minute  Eecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  pp.  35-40. 


THE  POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  69 

in  those  times  to  bear  any  such  burden.  The  vote  was 
therefore  favorable  and  approved  the  contract/  This 
contract  was  assigned  to  John  M.  Stockdale,  who  was  the 
real  party  in  interest,  but  who  did  not  want  his  name  con- 
nected with  these  matters  at  first. 

The  contractor  began  work,  but  as  labor  was  scarce 
there  was  considerable  delay,  and  an  extension  of  time  was 
finally  granted.^  The  court  house  was  poorly  built  and 
when  almost  completed  it  fell  down,  and  was  rebuilt  one- 
half  as  large  as  the  original  specifications  called  for. 
Court  was  held  in  this  court  house  for  a  year  or  two,  the 
judge,  lawyers,  court  officers,  jurors,  and  witnesses  going 
two  or  three  miles  to  the  nearby  settlers  for  their  meals 
and  night's  lodging,  as  there  was  nothing  but  a  school 
house  at  Paoli  besides  the  court  house.  But  the  lone  court 
house  with  scarcely  any  furnishings,  was  bleak  and  dreary 
at  best,  and  one  cold  winter  day,  when  the  old  cracked 
stove  refused  to  heat  and  the  clerk  said  his  fingers  were 
too  cold  to  write  in  his  docket,  the  judge  ordered  the  sheriff 
to  find  new  accommodations  for  the  court,  and  thereafter 
court  was  held  in  a  more  comfortable  house  wherever  con- 
venient and  the  old  brick  court  house  fell  into  decay. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  the  site  chosen  for  the  county- 
seat  did  not  prove  permanent,  as  the  county  in  fact  got  lit- 
tle use  out  of  the  public  buildings,  paid  for  by  land  which 
then  was  of  little  value,  but  now  is  being  drained  and  made 
into  valuable  property.  It  is  a  curious  example  of  the  per- 
versity of  fate. 

Before  we  pass  on,  the  following  verbatim  copy  of  speci- 
fications for  a  bridge,  which  was  contracted  for  in  Decem- 
ber, 1859,  for  the  road  crossing  Silver  Creek,  may  perhaps 
prove  of  interest  to  those  wishing  to  know  something  about 
pioneer  bridge  building : 

1  See  chapter  vii. 

2  Minute  Eecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  58. 


70  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

'*  Specifications  —  The  bridge  is  to  be  19  feet  long,  in- 
side of  sills,  the  stringers  4  in  number,  to  be  each  23  feet 
long  of  good  sound  logs,  dressed  on  the  upper  side  so  as  to 
allow  the  floor  to  lay  flat  upon  them.  The  width  of  the 
bridge  to  be  16  feet  and  the  flooring  of  the  same  to  be  of 
two  sets  of  split  puncheon,  each  puncheon  to  be  pinned 
down  with  i/^-inch  pins  on  two  stringers,  the  pins  to  be 
drove  so  that  their  points  shall  converge.  The  abutments 
are  to  be  of  height  sufficient  to  bring  the  floor  to  the  level  of 
pins  drove  in  each  end  of  the  bridge.  And  the  ground  on 
each  end  of  the  bridge  to  be  filled  up  so  as  to  bring  the 
roadway  to  the  same  level  as  the  bridge. ' '  ^ 

The  appointive  power  of  the  county  judge  was  called 
into  use  several  times  during  the  year  1859.  The  county 
clerk  elect,  Felix  McCosker,  having  left  the  county  and 
failed  to  qualify,  Judge  Hickey  on  January  8,  1859,  ap- 
pointed Thomas  Maher  in  his  place.^  Mr.  Maher  qualified 
and  held  oflice  until  he  resigned  shortly  before  the  election 
of  1859,  and  Michael  0.  Hickey  was  appointed  as  clerk 
until  the  time  of  the  election.^  On  July  1,  1859,  Andrew 
Hood  was  appointed  county  surveyor.* 

On  the  first  Monday  in  May,  1859,  the  record  shows  that 
Judge  Hickey  appointed  Michael  Mahan  assessor  of 
'*  Palo  Alto  township. '"*  This  act  is  of  considerable  sig- 
nificance, as  it  indicates  the  development  of  the  local  gov- 
ernment. The  assessor  is  the  first  local  officer  who  comes 
into  close  touch  with  all  the  people  of  the  community.  It 
is  the  first  step  in  the  levying  and  collecting  of  taxes,  and 
thus  is  one  of  the  important  elements  in  self-government. 

On  October  11,  1859,  occurred  the  first  state  election  in 
which  the  settlers  of  the  county  had  been  privileged  to 

1  Minute  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  20,  auditor 's  office. 

2  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  page  2 ;  statement  of  Judge  Hickey. 

3  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  p.  10. 
*  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  p.  10. 
»  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  p.  10. 


THE  POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  71 


participate.  Forty-seven  votes  were  polled  in  the  county, 
three  more  votes  than  in  the  previous  year.  It  was  the 
first  opportunity  for  the  party  affiliation  of  the  settlers  to 
assert  itself  and  the  result  was  decisive.  The  three  new 
comers  since  the  last  election  cast  the  only  Republican 
votes.^ 

The  Democratic  candidate  for  governor,  Augustus  C. 
Dodge,  received  44  votes,  and  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood,  the 
Republican,  three  votes.  The  other  state  officers  received 
about  the  same  vote.  For  senator,  John  F.  Duncombe  re- 
ceived 45  votes  and  L.  L.  Pease  2  votes.  For  represent- 
ative, F.  M.  Corey  32,  John  E.  Blackford  15.=^ 

The  result  of  the  vote  for  county  officers  was  as  follows : 

Palo  Alto  Cyundeb  Total 


County  Judge — 

James  Hickey 

12 

Martin  Coonan 

20 

Treasurer  and  Recorder — 

John  M.  Mulroney 

15 

Washington  Reed 

17 

Clerk  of  District  Court — 

Thos.  McCormick 

12 

Ward  B.  Whitman 

19 

Sheriff- 

James  McCormick 

12 

James  Nolan 

20 

Coroner — 

R.  F.  Carter 

11 

J.  Crowley 

20 

14 

26 

1 

21 

14 

29 

1 

18 

14 

26 

19 

14 

26 

1 

21 

14 

25 

1 

21 

1  Judge  Hickey  states  positively  that  there  were  none  but  Democrats  in 
the  county  at  the  first  election  and  that  the  three  new  settlers  cast  the  three 
Eepublican  votes  in  1859.  I  have  found  no  other  settler  who  disputes 
this  fact.  The  McCormicks  who  came  the  previous  fall,  are  said  to  have  been 
the  first  Republicans. 

2  Register  of  Elections,  vol.  i,  pp.  11-14. 


72  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Palo  Alto  Cylinder  Total 


Drainage  Commissioner — 

Joseph  T.  Mulroney 

12 

14 

26 

Martin  Laughlin  . 

20 

1 

21 

County  Surveyor — 

John  L.  Davis 

12 

14 

26 

John  Shippey 

20 

1 

21 

Michael  Hickey,  Acting  County  Judge;  Wm.  D.  Powers, 

Justice  of  the  Peace ;  James  McCormick,  Justice  of  the 

Peace  —  County  Canvassers. 
Certified  by  James  Hickey,  County  Judge.^ 

The  election  was  in  fact  very  uneventful  as  far  as  can 
be  learned,  and  the  only  diversion  appeared  to  be  the 
friendly  rivalry  for  the  local  offices.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that 
the  Carters  and  McCormicks  from  the  south  part  of  the 
county  now  appear  as  strong  factors  in  the  result. 

Little  of  interest  transpired  in  the  county  during  the 
year  following  and  the  records  show  that  there  was  very 
little  county  business.  Several  vacancies  in  the  county 
offices  were  filled  by  Judge  Hickey.  December  24,  1859, 
A.  B.  Carter  was  duly  appointed  sheriff  of  the  county,  and 
Michael  Hickey  was  duly  appointed  county  surveyor  April 
2,  1860. 

As  the  fall  of  1860  rolled  around,  the  county  entered 
upon  its  first  presidential  campaign.  The  bitter  fight  that 
was  being  waged  in  some  parts  of  the  country  was  not  felt 
in  Palo  Alto  County.  While  our  settlers  were  far  from  the 
settled  parts  of  the  country  and  thus  not  in  the  thick  of  the 
great  national  campaign  of  that  year,  yet  by  visits  to  Fort 
Dodge  and  other  points,  and  from  newspapers  and  new 
arrivals,  they  kept  posted  as  to  what  was  transpiring.  The 
fact  that  our  settlers  were  almost  all  Democrats  and  fight- 
ing Democrats  at  that,  did  not  tend  to  encourage  the  two 
or  three  loyal  adherents  of  Lincoln,  nor  promote  an  open 

1  Eegister  of  Elections,  vol.  i. 


THE  POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTY  73 

campaign  of  any  warmth.  But  the  interest  in  the  election 
was  genuine,  and  when  the  votes  were  counted  it  was 
found  that  the  Stephen  A.  Douglas  electors  had  received 
29  votes  and  Abraham  Lincoln  4  votes.  The  new  party 
members  rejoiced  in  the  gain  of  one  vote  over  the  preced- 
ing election.  The  total  vote  of  only  33  was  so  light  as  to 
show  that  the  vote  of  the  county  was  not  out.  The  follow- 
ing county  officers  were  elected :  Lott  Lauglilin,  clerk  of 
the  district  court ;  John  Mulroney,  treasurer  and  recorder ; 
James  Nolan,  surveyor;  Martin  Coonan,  sheriff;  John 
Nolan,  justice  of  the  peace ;  Michael  Graham,  constable. 

The  county  of  Palo  Alto  by  1861  had  established  a  reg- 
ular county  government  that  was  working  smoothly  and 
eflBciently.  The  settlers  had  become  familiar  with  the  du- 
ties of  the  various  offices,  and  the  elections  were  conducted 
in  a  manner  that  would  do  credit  to  an  old  established 
community.  Although  crude  in  many  ways,  the  political 
organization  of  the  county  at  this  time  was  firmly  estab- 
lished on  a  working  basis.  But  events  of  another  nature 
were  looming  up  dark  on  the  horizon  and  we  must  turn  for 
a  time  to  the  consideration  of  other  matters. 


CHAPTER  IX 
The  Call  to  Arms 

The  great  question  of  slavery,  smoldering  for  years  in 
a  divided  nation,  had  been  kept  confined  by  a  series  of 
compromises.  But  compromise  was  becoming  more  and 
more  difficult  to  maintain  and  in  1860  completely  broke 
down.  The  fire  so  long  repressed  burst  forth  with  re- 
newed fury.  The  South,  not  stopping  to  consider  the  cost, 
not  realizing  their  lack  of  numbers  and  their  industrial 
and  commercial  inferiority  as  compared  with  the  larger 
North,  defiantly  forced  the  issue  and  determined  to  sep- 
arate from  the  Union  and  form  a  country  of  their  own  that 
would  protect  the  institution  of  slavery.  But  this  course 
was  fatal  to  the  Southern  cause.  Secession  was  a  blow  at 
the  Union  and  the  North  rallied  to  its  support  with  a  pa- 
triotism that  never  could  have  been  aroused  for  the  sup- 
pression of  slavery  alone.  **The  Union  Forever'*  be- 
came a  rallying  cry  and  the  boys  in  blue,  fighting  for  the 
Union,  were  more  than  a  match  for  the  gallant  boys  in 
gray. 

Even  on  the  frontier  plains  of  Iowa,  the  news  of  the 
great  conflict  was  eagerly  discussed.  The  pioneers  were 
loyal  and  when  the  call  for  volunteers  came  they  respond- 
ed nobly.  The  names  of  the  brave  boys  who  went  to  the 
front  are  spread  upon  the  honor  roll  in  the  history  of  the 
state  of  Iowa. 

Palo  Alto  County,  although  almost  on  the  outpost  of 
civilization,  came  forward  with  her  quota  of  loyal  sons,  and 
throughout  the  war  contributed  as  strength  permitted  to 
the  call  of  duty.    The  population  of  the  whole  county  in 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  75 

1860  was  only  132,  a  large  number  of  these  being  women 
and  children  and  men  too  old  for  military  service.  The 
percentage  enlisting  in  the  Civil  War  and  in  the  northern 
Border  Brigade  was  therefore  very  large,  considering  the 
needs  and  dangers  of  frontier  settlements. 

A.  B.  Carter  of  West  Bend  was  the  first  to  enlist  from 
this  county.  He  went  to  Fort  Dodge  and  enlisted  August 
2, 1861.  A  company  was  formed  there  of  young  men  who 
were  desirous  of  getting  into  active  service  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  when  opportunity  offered  they  joined  Colonel 
Harvey's  regiment  of  Pennsylvanians.  They  reached 
Washington  October  6,  1861,  and  were  given  the  place  of 
honor  as  Company  A,  Eleventh  Pennsylvania  Cavalry. 
This  western  company  saw  active  service,  during  the  en- 
tire period  of  its  enlistment,  in  the  eastern  army,  and  was 
a  credit  to  Iowa  throughout  the  war.^ 

In  1862,  James  Linn  and  Wm.  D.  Powers  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  32d  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry.  This  regiment 
was  in  active  service  until  it  was  mustered  out  in  June, 
1865.  It  was  this  gallant  regiment  that  bore  the  brunt  of 
the  Confederate  charge  at  the  battle  of  Pleasant  Hill,  and 
though  losing  half  of  their  men  in  the  deadly  battle,  fought 
gallantly  against  heavy  odds  and  turned  certain  defeat 
into  victory.'' 

Joseph  McCormick  enlisted  in  1863  and  went  to  the 
front.  This  gallant  soldier  met  his  death  at  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  and  was  buried  in  the  National  Cemetery. 

The  county  desiring  to  keep  its  quota  full,  hired  two 
substitutes,  paying  them  in  advance  in  county  warrants 
at  30c  on  the  dollar,  amounting  to  $2,600.00.  The  super- 
visors also  ordered  that  $10,000.00  in  warrants  be  drawn 
* '  if  needed  to  raise  volunteers  provided  they  can  be  pro- 

1  Letter  of  A.  B.  Carter.     Gue,  History  of  Iowa,  vol.  ii,  p.  411. 

2  Gue,  History  of  Iowa,  vol.  ii,  pages  319-23.  A  summary  of  the  service 
of  the  32d  Iowa  will  be  found  in  the  same  chapter  quoted  above. 


76  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

cured.  "^  The  zeal  and  patriotism  of  the  county  out- 
stripped the  necessity,  as  this  was  one  more  than  the  quota 
called  for.  The  two  substitutes  were  supplied,  however, 
and  the  warrants  were  later  redeemed  at  par,  so  the  coun- 
ty paid  well  for  this  service. 

But  while  the  war  was  being  waged  in  the  Southland,  a 
different  danger  threatened  the  settlers  on  the  northern 
borders  of  Iowa.  The  news  of  the  Sioux  outbreak  in  Min- 
nesota, under  the  leadership  of  Little  Crow,  in  the  fall  of 
1862,  brought  again  the  haunting  fear  of  the  savage  red 
man.^  In  August  of  that  year  the  warlike  Sioux  started 
on  a  murderous  journey  through  Minnesota,  working 
south  until  they  arrived  at  New  Ulm,  where  the  terrified 
people  had  hastily  gathered  and  raised  a  barricade  for 
protection.  The  Indians,  500  strong,  attacked  the  town. 
The  prompt  arrival  of  reenforcements  alone  prevented  a 
general  massacre,  as  the  Indians  were  only  beaten  off 
after  two  days'  desperate  fighting.  The  redskins  with- 
drew and  continued  their  depredations  on  scattered  set- 
tlements. 

The  settlers  fled  in  terror  to  the  towns  for  protection, 
and  as  the  news  traveled  onward  the  people  in  the  border 
counties  of  Iowa  became  alarmed.  Public  meetings  were 
held  at  Algona  and  Estherville  and  volunteer  companies 
formed. 

Governor  Kirkwood  promptly  took  steps  to  raise  forces 
for  the  protection  of  the  border.  He  ordered  S.  E.  Ingham 
of  Des  Moines  to  proceed  to  Fort  Dodge  and  other  points 
and  organize  a  sufficient  force,  placing  arms  and  ammuni- 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors '  Eecord,  no.  1,  p.  68,  Jan.  2,  1865. 

2  The  facts  concerning  the  Indian  uprising  and  the  organizing  of  the 
frontier  forces  are  condensed  from  an  interesting  and  accurate  article, 
' '  The  Iowa  Northern  Border  Brigade  of  1862-3, ' '  by  Capt.  Wm.  H.  Ingham, 
in  Annals  of  Iowa,  October,  1902,  pp.  481-523.  That  description  is  fully 
substantiated  by  the  recollections  of  Lott  Laughlin,  Jeremiah  Crowley,  and 
others. 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  77 

tion  and  the  power  of  the  state  at  his  disposal.  At  Algona 
he  authorized  Mr.  W.  H.  Ingham  to  enlist  forty  men  to  be 
furnished  by  Humboldt,  Palo  Alto,  Kossuth  and  Emmet 
counties.  This  company  was  quickly  recruited  and  organ- 
ized as  Company  A,  with  W.  H.  Ingham  of  Algona  as  cap- 
tain. The  following  men  enlisted  from  Palo  Alto  County, 
their  age,  residence  and  nativity  being  given  in  the  official 
roster  as  follows :  R.  Fayette  Carter,  31,  Paoli,  Palo  Alto, 
Ohio,  2nd  Sergeant ;  Jeremiah  Crowley,  18,  Emmetsburg, 
Palo  Alto,  Ireland;  Patrick  Jackman,  22,  Emmetsburg, 
Palo  Alto,  Ireland ;  Lott  Laughlin,  23,  Emmetsburg,  Palo 
Alto,  Ireland;  Keiran  Mulroney,  19,  Emmetsburg,  Palo 
Alto,  Ireland ;  Joseph  T.  Mulroney,  26,  Emmetsburg,  Palo 
Alto,  Ireland.^ 

Twenty  men  from  this  company  were  stationed  at 
Estherville  under  the  command  of  Lieut.  Coverdale  and 
the  other  twenty  were  ordered  to  Iowa  Lake  under  Lieut. 
McKnight.  Later  the  whole  of  Company  A  was  located  at 
Estherville  under  Captain  Ingham,  and  spent  the  fall  and 
winter  in  building  a  stockade  fort  and  preparing  suitable 
quarters. 

Four  other  companies  were  raised  and  stationed  along 
the  northern  border,  forming  a  complete  chain  of  out- 
posts. Guns  and  ammunition  were  distributed  to  the  set- 
tlers in  the  various  counties.  The  report  to  the  governor 
shows  among  the  list  the  following :  ' '  To  Martin  Coonan 
for  the  use  of  settlers  in  Palo  Alto  County ;  five  lbs.  pow- 
der, 10  lbs.  lead,  300  percussion  caps."  The  troops  were 
well  drilled  and  well  supplied  with  the  necessary  equip- 
ment. 

These  prompt  and  efficient  measures  had  the  desired 
effect  and  the  Indians  were  turned  to  the  northward,  and 

1  * '  Iowa  Northern  Border  Brigade, ' '  AnnaiU  of  Iowa,  October,  1902,  pp. 
513-4. 


78  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

did  not  molest  any  settlers  in  Iowa.  Grradually  confidence 
returned,  and  with  the  added  security  of  the  stockades  all 
ready  for  an  emergency,  the  troops  were  mustered  out  in 
the  summer  and  fall  of  1863. 

Although  Palo  Alto  County  was  not  on  the  extreme 
border,  it  was  near  enough  to  share  the  anxiety  and  fear  of 
the  time.  The  Spirit  Lake  massacre  of  1857  was  still 
fresh  in  mind  and  the  remembrance  of  those  horrors  so 
near  their  settlements  made  them  prompt  in  their  assist- 
ance for  the  defense  of  the  border  from  Indian  invasion. 

Capt.  W.  H.  Ingham  thus  sums  up  the  results :  "As  to 
the  services  of  the  Northern  Border  Brigade,  the  results 
show  that  it  served  an  excellent  purpose  in  preserving  the 
settlements  of  the  northwestern  border  and  thereby  pre- 
vented much  suffering  and  an  immense  loss  of  property  to 
the  citizens  of  the  state.  From  the  reports  heretofore  giv- 
en, it  will  be  seen  that  the  brigade  promptly  met  and  car- 
ried out  all  of  the  objects  set  forth  in  Governor  Kirk- 
wood's  General  Orders  No.  1.  By  a  wise  distribution  of 
its  forces  at  frequent  stations  on  the  frontier,  and  under 
the  able  management  of  Col.  Sawyers,  the  brigade  un- 
doubtedly did  much  in  preventing  the  Indians  from  invad- 
ing the  state.  The  companies  comprising  the  brigade  con- 
structed works  at  the  different  posts  well  suited  for  the 
purposes  for  which  they  were  made,  as  shown  by  Col.  Saw- 
yers 's  final  reports.  These  works,  together  with  the  pres- 
ence of  the  troops,  gave  a  genuine  feeling  of  security  not 
only  to  the  settlers  nearby  but  to  all  others  that  were  in 
any  way  concerned,  so  that  many  who  had  left  their  homes 
during  the  excitement  soon  afterward  returned.  The 
brigade  was  made  up  of  strong,  earnest,  loyal  men,  well 
fitted  by  pioneer  experiences  to  meet  any  emergency  that 
might  occur,  and  its  survivors  may  well  take  pride  in  hav- 
ing been  members  and  of  helping  to  render  the  last  service 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  79 

ever  required  by  the  state  for  protection  of  its  northern 
border  from  invasion. ' '  ^ 


1 ' '  Iowa  Northern  Border  Brigade, "  by  W.  H.  Ingham,  Annals  of  Iowa, 
October,  1902,  p.  511. 


CHAPTEK  X 

A  Decade  of  Groivth  — 1863-1872 

During  the  Civil  War,  while  the  attention  of  the  whole 
nation  was  centered  upon  the  great  question  involved  in 
the  internecine  conflict,  there  was  practically  no  move- 
ment toward  western  settlement.  Conditions  were  too 
unsettled  and  the  young  men  of  the  country  who  were  in 
the  army  had  little  time  to  think  about  going  west.  Hardly 
had  peace  been  declared  before  the  people  of  the  eastern 
and  central  states  began  to  follow  Horace  Greeley's  ad- 
vice to  go  west  and  grow  up  with  the  new  country.  From 
1864  on,  settlers  began  to  flock  in  great  numbers  into  Iowa. 

The  Homestead  Law,  approved  by  President  Lincoln 
May  20,  1862,  was  another  incentive  to  settlement  after 
the  war.  By  this  law  the  land  was  given  to  the  settler  by 
the  government  at  a  nominal  price  in  consideration  of  set- 
tlement and  cultivation.  Later  enactments  made  special 
concessions  to  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War.  Most  of  the 
homesteaders  went  to  Fort  Dodge  to  make  their  proof,  but 
the  extreme  western  tier  of  townships  in  Palo  Alto  County 
belonged  to  the  Sioux  City  land  office. 

Another  fact  of  importance  is  that  with  the  coming  of 
the  homesteaders  after  the  war  the  building  out  on  the 
prairie  began.  Before  this  the  settlement  had  been  along 
the  lakes  and  rivers  where  timber  was  plenty.  The  early 
settlers  had  thus  abundant  material  from  which  to  build 
their  houses  which  were  always  made  of  logs.  As  the  de- 
sirable timbered  locations  were  soon  all  taken  up,  the 
homesteaders  were  compelled  to  locate  out  on  the  open 
prairie  and  build  homes  of  sod,  thatched  with  hay,  and 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  81 

covered  again  with  sod.  To  the  early  settlers  it  seemed 
foolhardy  to  build  out  on  the  unprotected  prairie  without 
shelter  from  the  hot  sun,  the  fierce  winds  and  the  terrible 
prairie  fires.  But  these  hardy  settlers  had  come  west  to 
build  a  home  and  make  a  farm,  and  the  broad  and  fertile 
plains  offered  the  finest  opportunity  for  the  farmer  set- 
tler. Groves  were  soon  planted  around  the  little  homes 
and  before  long  the  growing  trees  formed  a  windbreak 
and  furnished  needed  firewood.  In  a  few  years  these 
beautiful  groves  dotted  the  landscape,  giving  a  finer  ap- 
pearance to  the  county  and  adding  real  value  to  the  land. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  war  practically  no  settlers 
came  into  Palo  Alto  County.  The  whole  population  in 
1863  was  only  142  people.  In  the  next  two  years  the  num- 
ber had  increased  to  216.  From  then  on  an  ever-increas- 
ing tide  of  settlement  flowed  into  the  county  until  in  1870 
the  census  showed  a  population  of  1,336,  and  in  1873  the 
number  was  about  2,000,  although  no  census  figures  were 
taken  that  year.  From  142  to  2,000  represents  a  remark- 
able growth  for  a  single  county  in  a  single  decade.  It  is  the 
history  of  this  period  of  growth  that  is  now  to  be  consid- 
ered in  detail. 

In  1863,  on  the  last  day  of  July,  Geo.  J.  Jacobs  and  fam- 
ily of  five  children  came  to  West  Bend  and  settled  three 
and  a  half  miles  west  of  where  the  town  of  West  Bend  now 
is.  Mr.  William  Carter  was  postmaster  then,  the  post- 
office  being  located  in  his  cabin  and  was  known  as  ' '  West 
Bend."  H.  H.  Jacobs,  then  a  lad  ten  years  old,  in  tell- 
ing their  experiences  says :  ' '  We  burned  out  the  first  fall 
we  were  here,  '63.  After  we  got  our  hay  all  up  and  the 
sheds  fixed,  father  was  up  helping  Campbell  put  up  his  hay. 
It  was  late  in  the  fall  and  there  was  a  big  prairie  fire 
started  down  toward  Pocahontas,  on  that  side  of  the  river. 
We  could  see  the  smoke  coming.  The  wind  blew  terribly, 
and  the  grass  on  the  river  bottom  was  way  up.    Mother 


82  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

was  scared,  with  no  one  but  just  us  children  home.  She 
put  me  on  a  horse  to  go  after  Father  about  two  miles 
away.  I  went  after  him  but  before  we  could  get  back  the 
fire  jumped  the  Des  Moines  River  and  came  right  up 
through  there.  There  was  a  colt  in  the  stable  and  a  pig 
in  the  pen.  Mother  got  the  colt  out  but  could  not  get  the 
pig  out.  The  pig  was  in  a  rail  pen  and  broke  out  somehow 
and  did  not  burn.  We  burned  out  slick  and  clean.  Just 
the  house  was  left.  The  grass  was  all  tramped  off  around 
the  house  and  of  course  it  was  a  log  house  with  a  sod  roof 
and  it  didn't  burn,  but  the  family  nearly  smothered  from 
the  smoke.  We  were  left  there  without  hay  or  anything. 
There  was  a  place  down  on  the  river  that  had  burned  in 
July  and  Father  and  John  McCormick,  who  had  a  mower 
(the  only  one  in  the  county)  went  down  and  cut  hay.  Fath- 
er and  Campbell  had  to  put  up  all  their  hay  with  a  scythe. 
McCormick  went  down  there  and  cut  part  of  it  with  a 
mower.  Guess  we  got  10  or  15  tons  of  hay.  It  helped 
out  some  that  winter  and  then  we  had  to  haul  hay  from 
Mulroney's  and  Tobin's  and  we  let  out  part  of  the  stock. 
Let  Dawson  have  one  yoke  of  oxen.  Lost  horses  that 
winter  and  lost  two  or  three  head  of  cattle.  Did  not  have 
feed  enough.  That  was  one  of  the  hardest  winters  here. 
'63  and  '64.  Joe  Mulroney  froze  his  feet.  I  helped 
Bickle  to  put  up  hay  once  after.  We  saw  a  fire  way  off 
miles  away  but  never  thought  of  it  coming.  Along  in  the 
evening  it  kept  coming.  I  don 't  know  why  he  didn  't  know 
enough  to  back  fire.  About  midnight  it  got  there  and  we 
had  a  hard  time  to  get  the  wagon  out  with  a  load  on  it. 
Just  got  it  out  and  that  was  about  all.  His  sheds  and  all 
went,  hay  and  everything.  Fort  Dodge  was  the  nearest 
trading  point  and  that  was  forty  miles  from  West  Bend. 
I  made  several  trips  there  with  oxen.  Never  had  money 
enough  to  buy  a  meal  on  the  road  and  have  ground  corn 
in  a  coffee  mill  for  my  dinner.     One  spring,  the  time  the 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  83 

water  was  so  high,  Father  and  two  of  the  neighbors  got 
the  seeding  done  and  started  to  Estherville  to  mill  with 
what  little  wheat  we  had  left.  There  camQ  a  freshet  and 
they  were  gone  eight  days.  Before  they  got  home  we  were 
planting  com.  The  last  dinner  we  had  we  ground  up  what 
little  seed  corn  there  was  left,  in  the  coffee  mill.  When 
we  got  home  Mother  had  biscuits  and  that  is  all  the  supper 
we  had.  The  men  got  home  before  morning.  I  broke 
prairie  all  one  summer  with  a  yoke  of  oxen.  We  lived 
on  johnny  cake  for  a  month  there.  The  only  time  we  got 
any  wheat  bread  was  when  we  went  home.  Father  could 
not  stand  johnny  cake  only  a  little  while  at  a  time.  "^ 

In  1864  the  Kirby  family,  Michael,  Henry,  Thomas, 
William,  and  Lizzie,  came  and  settled  near  the  Tobin- 
Mulroney  settlement  at  Soda  Bar.  Jas.  P.  White  was 
another  settler  about  this  time  who  soon  exerted  an  im- 
portant influence  in  the  county.  He  was  elected  county 
treasurer  in  1865  and  held  the  ofSce  three  times. 

After  the  war  several  new  settlers  came  into  West  Bend 
township.  Among  them  were  C.  G.  Groves,  John  DeWitt, 
Jas.  Johnson,  Ira  D.  Stone,  Joseph  Knapp,  John  P.  Bickle, 
Dan  Ditch,  Jeremiah  Kelley,  and  a  man  named  Herrick. 
About  the  same  time  Galbraith,  B.  Franklin,  Dr.  Under- 
wood, Goldtrap,  and  H.  L.  Joiner  located  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river. 

On  the  east  of  West  Bend  in  1865  the  Dorweiler  family 
settled  in  what  is  now  Garfield  township,  Kossuth  County, 
there  being  no  settlers  nearer  than  seven  or  eight  miles. 

John  M.  Hefley,  who  had  been  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  Fort  Dodge  and  a  valiant  soldier  in  both  the  Mexican 
and  Civil  Wars,  brought  his  family  to  Palo  Alto  County 
in  1865. 

Among   the   other  settlers   of  that  year  were  Robt. 

1  Interview  with  H.  H.  Jacobs. 


84  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Carney,  Sr.,  John,  W.  T.,  and  Eobert  Carney,  Jr.,  Dennis 
Carroll  and  wife  and  son  Patrick,  James  F.  Nolan  and 
Lawrence  "Burns. 

John  Doran  came  to  Palo  Alto  County  in  1865  and 
settled  in  Great  Oak  township.  Only  four  families  were 
living  there  then,  Jas.  P.  White,  Michael  Kirby,  Eobert 
Carney  and  Lawrence  Bums.  There  were  no  other  set- 
tlers on  the  west  as  far  as  the  Little  Sioux  River.^ 

Mr.  Doran,  telling  about  the  early  settlers'  experiences 
in  the  county,  says :  * '  Sometimes  the  winters  were  very 
severe.  The  winter  of  '66-7  was  the  longest,  coldest  and 
hardest  that  I  can  remember.  It  set  in  very  cold  early  in 
December  and  as  there  was  no  snow  on  the  ground  until 
about  the  first  of  January,  the  ground  was  then  frozen 
about  four  feet  and  the  ice  in  the  river  about  three  feet. 
About  the  first  of  January  it  began  snowing  heavily  and 
drifting  and  for  three  months  there  were  two  blizzards  a 
week  of  three  days  each  and  all  the  change  was  from  cold 
to  colder.  On  the  10th  of  April  there  was  an  average  of 
three  feet  of  hard  snow  on  the  ground  and  more  coming. 
About  April  12th  it  commenced  raining  hard  and  heavy 
and  kept  at  it  for  about  two  weeks.  On  the  15th  the  river 
broke  up  and  there  was  some  water  on  the  bottoms  about 
that  time."^  The  severity  of  these  winters  out  on  the 
open  plain  can  hardly  be  imagined  by  people  of  the  present 
day.  "With  no  groves  or  wind  breaks,  the  snow  drifting 
and  blowing  for  miles  over  the  level  plains  made  nearly 
every  snow  storm  a  virtual  blizzard,  dangerous  to  any 
person  caught  away  from  habitation  and  a  serious  menace 
to  the  live  stock  driven  helplessly  about  in  the  storm.  The 
severe  weather  and  terrific  storms  were  among  the  real 
dangers  that  the  pioneers  had  to  contend  with. 

In  1866  J.  G.  Crowder,  with  his  wife  and  four  children, 

1  Letter  of  John  Doran. 
2  Letter  of  John  Doran. 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  85 

together  with  John  McCoy,  came  and  settled  in  Great 
Oak  township,  and  Patrick  Lynch  returned  to  his  place. 

In  June  of  the  same  year  Orrin  Sloan,  .wife,  and  two 
sons,  W.  S.  and  David,  settled  on  a  homestead  on  section 
34,  Fern  Valley  township.  Shippey  and  the  McCormicks 
were  the  only  other  settlers  in  that  township  and  the  West 
Bend  settlers  were  the  nearest  neighbors  on  the  south  and 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Hatch  over  in  Kossuth  County  was 
the  nearest  settler  on  the  northeast.  To  the  northwest 
was  Bill  Crooks 's  claim  and  then  Neary's  on  the  way  to 
the  old  town  of  Emmetsburg. 

Other  settlers  in  1866  were  Michael  Martin,  his  wife, 
three  sons,  Jerry,  John  and  Tom,  and  six  daughters,  the 
Moncrief  family,  Henry  Grace  and  W.  H.  Grace,  William, 
Eobert  and  Thomas  Shea,  T.  J.  Lyon  and  wife,  Andrew 
Lynch,  D.  H.  Halstead,  T.  C.  Wilson,  Chas.  Nolan,  C.  S. 
Warren,  Chas.  Hastings,  Isaac  Stewart,  Levi  Ashley, 
James  Brennan,  Wm.  E.  Cullen,  Thomas  Walsh,  Thomas 
Laughlin,  Myles  Ryan,  and  Patrick  Neary. 

When  Mr.  Stockdale  was  building  the  old  court  house 
at  Paoli  he  brought  up  from  Border  Plain,  near  Fort 
Dodge,  a  steam  saw-mill  and  used  it  to  saw  lumber  to  use 
in  the  construction  of  the  court  house  and  school  house. 
The  settlers  used  to  get  most  of  their  lumber  there.  Dur- 
ing the  war  the  old  saw-mill  lay  unused  and  neglected,  but 
some  time  after  the  close  of  the  war  a  man  named  Martin 
bought  the  saw-mill  and  took  it  down  to  Tobin's  and  Mul- 
roney's  and  did  a  lot  of  sawing  for  the  people  of  that 
neighborhood.  Later  the  old  mill  was  taken  up  to  Spirit 
Lake  and  afterwards  bought  by  Fort  Dodge  parties  and 
taken  down  there.^  This  old  mill  was  of  great  service  to 
the  settlers  and  many  still  recall  the  hardships  and  diffi- 
culties they  encountered  in  getting  logs  to  this  mill  and 
hauling  back  the  lumber  to  their  homes. 

1  M.  M.  Crowley 's  statement. 


86  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

It  was  some  time  in  the  later  sixties  that  the  first  thresh- 
ing machine  was  brought  into  the  county  by  a  man  named 
Peterson.  It  was  one  of  the  old-fashioned  horse-power 
machines,  but  it  was  considered  a  great  thing  in  those  days, 
and  it  saved  a  great  deal  of  work  and  time  over  the  old 
methods  of  threshing  out  with  a  flail  or  stamping  out  the 
grain  with  horses. 

The  old  court  house  at  Paoli  was  another  source  of 
trouble  during  these  years.  The  county  judge  had  in 
1859  made  a  contract  with  Wm.  E.  Clark  to  build  a  brick 
court  house  and  school  house  at  Paoli,  the  then  county 
seat,  and  this  contract  had  been  assigned  to  John  M.  Stock- 
dale.  The  work  had  been  commenced  but  lagged  along 
and  had  finally  been  abandoned  with  the  buildings  still 
unfinished. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  board  of  supervisors, 
held  on  Monday,  the  5th  day  of  January,  1865,  the  Paoli 
court  house  contract  came  up  again.  It  appearing  that 
John  M.  Stockdale,  who  had  bought  the  rights  and  title  of 
"Wm.  E.  Clark,  the  original  contractor,  in  the  contract  and 
the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands,  had  failed  entirely  to 
carry  the  work  to  completion  within  the  required  time,  the 
damages  to  the  county  were  fixed  by  the  board  at  $1,800 
and  John  F.  Buncombe  was  employed  by  them  to  bring 
suit  against  Stockdale  and  his  bondholders.  Any  moneys 
collected  on  the  above  suit  were  to  go  toward  completing 
the  aforesaid  court  house  or  erecting  another  as  the  board 
might  direct.^  Suit  was  commenced  and  judgment  secur- 
ed by  the  county  against  the  contractor.  A  special  meet- 
ing of  the  board  of  supervisors  was  held  at  the  office  of 
the  county  clerk  on  the  14th  day  of  August,  1866  (James 
H.  Underwood,  Joseph  T.  Mulroney,  and  John  Nolan, 
supervisors,  and  James  Hickey,  clerk,  being  present),  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  settlement  between  the  county  of 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Record  of  Palo  Alto  County,  no.  1,  p.  71. 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  87 

Palo  Alto  and  John  M.  Stockdale  and  others  about  the 
judgment  against  said  Stockdale  and  others  for  $9,750  in 
favor  of  said  county  for  damages  for  the  non-completion 
of  the  Paoli  court  house.  After  due  deliberation  of  the 
board  in  regard  to  said  matter,  said  judgment  and  all 
matters  and  disputes  between  Stockdale  and  others  and 
the  county  of  Palo  Alto  were  settled  and  compromised/ 
The  terms  of  the  compromise  are  set  out  in  full  in  the  legal 
document  printed  in  Appendix  B  to  this  book.^  Thus 
ended  a  long  controversy  and  a  rather  expensive  and 
unfortunate  experience  for  the  county.  The  supervisors 
advertised  for  bids  and  completed  the  court  house  for 
$1,060. 

The  court  house  and  school  house  were  poorly  located 
and  so  bleak  and  dreary  that  they  could  not  be  used  in 
inclement  weather  and  the  county  officers  preferred  to 
have  offices  in  a  more  thickly  settled  region.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  board  in  June,  1866,  all  county  officers  were 
ordered  to  move  to  the  court  house  at  Paoli,  but  in  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year  the  board  recognized  the  necessity 
of  finding  more  comfortable  quarters  on  account  of  *^no 
provision  for  heating. ' '  ^ 

Some  light  is  cast  on  the  interior  and  furnishings  of  this 
old  Paoli  court  house  in  the  report  of  a  meeting  of  the 
board  held  on  November  10, 1868.  At  one  end  was  a  plat- 
form 6x8  feet  and  18  inches  high.  The  seating  consisted 
of  12  benches  and  24  arm  chairs.  It  was  heated  by  two 
box  stoves.  The  desks  were  two  in  number,  of  black 
walnut.  The  specifications  call  for  ^'2  desks  and  cab- 
inets made  in  the  same  style  as  the  one  now  in  Jas.  P. 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Eecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  no.  1,  p.  86. 

2  See  Appendix  B  for  terms  of  settlement. 

8  The  records  of  the  county  are  full  of  adjournments  from  the  cheerless 
old  court  house  to  the  more  comfortable  cabins  of  the  settlers. — Minutes  and 
Supervisors'  K«cord,  Palo  Alto  County,  i,  pp.  136  and  142. 


88  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

White's  house  except  they  shall  be  i/4  larger  in  all  dimen- 
sions."^ 

The  stage  that  made  regular  trips  was  the  principal 
means  of  communication  and  transportation.  It  was  the 
main  artery  that  supplied  the  life  blood  to  the  frontier 
settlements.  H.  H.  Jacobs,  who  drove  stage  for  years 
through  the  county,  says:  ''I  started  to  stage  it  in  70 
or  '71.  I  ran  seven  years  out  of  about  nine  or  ten  years. 
Between  '71  and  '73  ran  pretty  much  all  the  time.  The 
postoffice  at  the  Tobin  place  was  established  when  we 
came  here  in  1863.  Called  Soda  Bar.  Think  it  was  Tom 
Tobin  that  was  postmaster.  Alice  Tobin,  Tom  Kirby's 
wife,  was  postmaster  all  the  time  I  ran  stage.  Most  of 
the  postoffices  were  established  in  '70  or  '71  or  along 
there,  because  they  were  there  when  I  commenced.  Joe 
Mulroney  run  stage  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  up 
to  the  beginning  of  the  seventies.  Man  by  the  name  of 
Fisher  run  on  the  east  side,  Humboldt  to  Estherville. 
Was  running  four  or  five  years.  Both  carried  mail.  Two 
different  routes.  In  '70  and  '71  the  horses  got  sick  and 
sometimes  I  would  come  horseback  with  one  horse,  and  at 
last  they  all  got  sick  and  I  had  a  pair  of  three  year  old 
steers  and  I  made  four  trips  with  them.  Came  up  one 
day  and  back  the  next.  That  was  along  in  the  early  seven 
ties.  Another  fellow  drove  from  Humboldt  to  West  Bend 
with  a  pair  of  steers.  Hickey's  postoffice  was  established 
about  the  same  time. 

' '  My  stage  route  was  across  the  river  from  West  Bend 
to  Fiddlers'  Green,  where  Franklins  and  all  those  people 
lived;  there  was  a  postoffice  there.  Then  from  there  to 
Eolfe,  then  to  near  Bradgate,  then  from  there  to  Eutland, 
and  from  there  to  Humboldt  and  Dakotah  City.  I  would 
make  a  trip  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  start  Monday 
for  Emmetsburg  and  go  down  to  Hickey's,  across  to  West 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors '  Eecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  i,  p.  146. 


p.  F.  Van  Gorden 


E.  P.  McEvoY 


Z.  F.  Dickinson 


S.  W.  Ballard 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  89 

Bend  to  change  horses.  Cross  at  West  Bend  bridge.  The 
bridge  was  built  some  time  in  the  seventies.  From  there 
down  to  Kolfe,  then  the  next  trip  on  this  side  of  the  river. 
From  Emmetsburg  to  Fern  Valley  and  then  West  Bend, 
McKnight's  Point,  Wacousta,  Tueland,  then  Humboldt 
and  Dakotah  City.  That  would  be  in  the  last  part  of  the 
seventies.  Say  from  75  to  about  '81  that  we  would  run 
that  way.     Before  that  it  was  just  one  mail  a  week. 

^'I  remember  when  I  was  staging,  Bill  Roper,  White, 
and  some  one  else  had  been  to  Fort  Dodge  and  a  blizzard 
came,  and  they  got  storm  bound.  They  stayed  at  our 
house  two  days.  Chas.  Ballard  was  driving  stage  for 
me.  Think  he  had  made  the  south  trip  and  I  was  at 
home.  They  wanted  me  to  drive  team  for  them,  thinking 
I  knew  the  road  better.  We  started  from  home  in  the 
morning  and  got  eight  miles  in  the  forenoon  by  working 
hard.  Bill  would  take  butter  and  put  in  his  coffee,  saying 
that  it  was  as  near  cream  as  he  could  get.  We  got  into 
Emmetsburg  that  night,  just  as  it  was  getting  dark.  We 
worked  hard  all  day,  shoveling  to  get  through. 

'* Another  time  I  was  driving  from  Hickey's.  Had  a 
little  French  mare  on  the  stage  that  day.  The  roads  were 
full  of  water,  thawed  all  day.  Just  before  I  got  to  Hickey's 
there  was  a  cloud  came  up  and  it  started  to  snow.  While 
they  were  changing  the  mail  there  at  Hickey's  it  was  just 
one  sheet  of  snow  coming  down,  big  flakes.  I  started  for 
town,  had  three  miles  up  that  bottom  and  I  drove,  and  if 
it  had  not  been  that  that  mare  would  just  stick  to  the  track, 
I  would  never  have  reached  Emmetsburg.  That  was  the 
night  so  many  got  lost.  Lots  of  farmers  started  west  and 
had  to  come  back.  I  could  not  look  up.  Could  watch  down 
beside  the  cutter  and  see  that  we  were  in  the  track.  If  I  had 
had  another  mile  I  know  the  horses  could  not  have  stood 
it.     Their  eyes  were  covered  with  snow  when  I  got  in. "  ^ 

1  Interview  with  H.  H.  Jacobs. 


90  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

In  the  early  seventies  the  principal  trading  point  was  at 
Algona  where  the  railroad  ended.  J.  J.  Wilson  had  a 
freight  line  from  Algona  to  Emmetsburg  and  also  one 
from  Algona  to  Dakotah  City  in  Humboldt  County  and 
another  line  to  Estherville.  There  were  no  regular  roads 
then  and  the  hauling  was  done  by  ox  teams  which  went 
overland,  hauling  loads  of  lumber,  hardware,  goods,  and 
supplies  of  all  kinds  which  were  in  great  demand.  James 
A.  Keeler,  who  came  to  this  county  in  1871,  drove  a  wagon 
on  this  freight  line.  He  kept  a  dairy  and  it  is  an  interest- 
ing record  of  the  early  days.  At  places  where  the  road 
was  especially  bad  they  would  double  up  and  put  all  the 
oxen  on  one  wagon,  and  often  had  twelve  yoke  to  one 
wagon  to  get  a  load  through  Cylinder  Creek.  In  June  of 
1873,  the  freighters  spent  several  days  helping  a  circus 
over  Cylinder  Creek.  This  was  the  first  show  that  ever 
came  to  the  county.  John  Donovan  and  Thos.  Slater  were 
among  those  whe  freighted  from  Algona  at  this  time.^ 

The  journalistic  spirit  early  made  its  appearance  in 
Palo  Alto  County.  The  first  newspaper  was  the  Demo- 
crat, the  first  issue  of  which  appeared  December  4,  1869. 
The  editor-owner  was  James  P.  White  and  the  paper  was 
published  at  Soda  Bar.  The  prospectus  issued  by  the 
publisher  is  printed  in  full  in  the  Appendix  to  this  book. 
This  paper  flourished  some  time  in  spite  of  the  difficulty 
of  having  the  printing  done  at  Estherville,  Algona,  or  oth- 
er place  where  they  could  get  the  work  done.  The  paper 
continued  staunchly  Democratic  and  when  the  Palo  Alto 
Advance  was  published  by  McCarty  &  Hartshorn  and 
Harrison  &  Burnell,  June,  1870,  there  were  many  lively 
political  contests  waged  in  the  columns  of  the  two  papers. 
When  the  copy  was  prepared  the  editors  of  the  Advance 
would  hitch  up  and  drive  to  Humboldt  or  Algona  where 
the  paper  was  printed,  wait  for  the  printed  copies,  and 

1  Interview  with  James  A.  Keeler. 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  91 

bring  them  back  and  distribute  them  throughout  the  coun- 
ty.   The  Advance  was  a  Republican  paper. 

The  Palo  Alto  Patriot  was  published  at  Emmetsburg 
in  1873.  And  the  Monthly  Enterprise,  a  small  paper,  was 
circulated  for  a  short  time  during  the  same  year.  The 
Palo  Alto  Pilot  was  started  during  the  last  days  of  the 
Old  Town  of  Emmetsburg  in  1874,  and  moved  with  the 
town.  The  Palo  Alto  Reporter  was  started  by  Henry  Jen- 
kins in  1876.  Of  these  early  newspaper  ventures  the 
Reporter  alone  has  survived  and  is  still  being  published  in 
Emmetsburg.  The  present  Democrat,  now  published  in 
Emmetsburg,  was  a  later  paper  started  in  1884  by  P.  H. 
Ryan. 

The  board  of  supervisors,  at  their  meeting  in  Janu- 
ary, 1870,  for  the  first  time  authorized  the  publication  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  board  and  designated  the  Palo  Alto 
Democrat  as  the  first  official  newspaper.  The  following 
year  the  Palo  Alto  Democrat  and  the  Palo  Alto  Advayice 
were  named  as  the  official  newspapers.^ 

In  1870  Pat  Connors  and  J.  B.  Guerdett  brought  a 
threshing  machine  into  the  county.  This  was  not  the  first 
one,  however,  but  there  had  been  no  machine  threshing 
done  for  several  years,  and  the  advent  of  this  threshing- 
machine  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the  farmers.  The 
next  spring  Pat  Connors  sold  his  interest  to  C.  T.  Allen, 
who  owned  the  machine  until  it  was  worn  out.  C.  H.  Gid- 
dings  worked  on  this  outfit,  driving  the  horse  power  for 
five  straight  years.  Mr.  Giddings  relates  some  interest- 
ing experiences  of  the  days  spent  with  the  threshing  gang 
and  it  is  through  his  kindness  that  the  picture  of  this  outfit 
at  work  threshing  for  Martin  Coonan  in  1871  is  given  on 
another  page,  Mr.  Giddings  having  the  original  picture 
in  his  possession. 

In  the  early  seventies  the  county  officers  had  difficulty 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Kecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  pp.  175  and 
205. 


92  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

in  finding  suitable  offices.  The  old  court  house  at  Paoli 
was  untenantable  and  so  the  county  officers  were  scattered 
around  at  whatever  places  they  could  find  accommoda- 
tions. The  board  of  supersisors  at  their  January  1,  1872, 
meeting  made  the  following  record:  ''Ordered  by  the 
board  that  the  back  room  and  the  east  middle  room  of 
White  &  Shea's  office  be  rented  by  the  board  for  holding 
court,  meetings  of  the  board  and  county  officers  for  six 
months  from  January  1,  1872,  paying  therefor  the  sum  of 
fifty  dollars  cash,  and  that  M.  L.  Brown,  treasurer,  has 
permission  to  hold  his  office  at  the  office  of  McCarty  & 
Hartshorn  in  Emmetsburg,  and  Wm.  H.  H.  Booth,  auditor, 
has  permission  to  hold  his  office  at  the  office  of  T.  W. 
Harrison  in  Emmetsburg.  M.  D.  Daniels,  sheriff,  has 
permission  to  hold  his  office  at  the  office  of  T.  W.  Harrison 
in  Emmetsburg.  That  no  office  rent  shall  be  paid  by  the 
county  for  the  last  named  officers. "  ^ 

During  this  period  there  were  several  interesting  politi- 
cal campaigns.  The  Democrats  were  in  the  majority  in 
the  county  and  had  complete  control  of  the  offices.  In  the 
election  of  1870  only  the  clerk  and  recorder  were  to  be 
elected  and  the  Republicans  then  for  the  first  time  per- 
fected their  organization  and  put  a  ticket  in  the  field. 
The  Republican  candidates  made  such  surprising  gains 
that  with  more  confidence  in  1871  the  Republicans  again 
put  up  a  full  ticket  and  entered  upon  a  vigorous  campaign. 
Geo.  B.  McCarty  describes  the  issues  and  the  contest  as 
follows:  ''In  1870  all  county  officers  were  Democrats 
except  one  or  two  members  of  the  board  of  supervisors. 
The  board  was  at  that  time  composed  of  a  member  from 
each  township.  In  the  fall  of  1870  the  Republicans  had 
formed  an  organization  and  put  a  printed  ticket  in  the 
field,  appointed  a  central  committee,  etc.,  but  did  not  elect 
any  officers.     The  county  had  been  run  very  loosely  finan- 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors '  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  234. 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  93 

cially  and  otherwise,  the  county  warrants  were  selling  at 
$.25  on  the  dollar  in  1859  and  no  buyers.  During  the 
spring  of  1870  John  A.  Elliott,  land  commissioner  for  the 
Des  Moines  Valley  Railroad  Company,  which  company 
had  a  large  grant  of  land  in  this  county  which  had  become 
taxable,  authorized  the  writer  to  buy  up  from  $3,000  to 
$5,000  in  county  warrants  to  be  used  by  the  company  in 
paying  the  county  part  of  its  taxes.  I  bought  nearly  $3,000 
worth  of  these  warrants  at  $.25  on  the  dollar,  then  another 
party  through  Jas.  P.  White  commenced  buying  up  war- 
rants and  the  price  advanced  to  $.30,  and  finally  to  $.33 1-3, 
and  a  few  to  $.35,  when  I,  having  bought  up  the  required 
amount,  stopped  buying  and  there  was  no  further  market 
for  them.  Prior  to  my  buying,  warrants  had  been  issued 
by  the  board  at  $.25  on  the  dollar ;  that  is  the  county  would 
buy  a  bill  of  stationery  amounting  to  $25.  They  would 
then  issue  county  warrants  to  the  amount  of  $100  to  pay 
for  it.  In  the  spring  of  1870  while  I  was  still  buying  war- 
rants, I  went  before  the  board  and  explained  that  it  was 
ruinous  to  issue  so  many  warrants.  They  said  they  could 
do  nothing  else  as  they  received  no  money,  the  county 
treasurer  always  turning  in  warrants  for  all  county  taxes. 
But  they  finally  agreed  to  issue  no  warrants  for  less  than 
$.35  on  the  dollar,  but  this  did  not  help  the  matter  material- 
ly, as  there  was  a  large  amount  of  railroad  and  other  lands 
unpatented  and  not  taxable,  so  that  the  county  was  each 
year  issuing  warrants  far  in  excess  of  revenue.  In  1871 
there  was  a  county  treasurer,  auditor,  and  other  officers 
to  elect,  and  the  Republicans,  then  fully  organized,  held  a 
convention  and  nominated  a  full  ticket  at  an  early  date, 
and  the  contest  at  once  became  spirited.  The  Advance,  a 
Republican  paper,  was  started  by  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  H.  L. 
Burnell  and  myself.  It  was  a  patent  inside  and  the  local 
pages  were  printed  first  at  Humboldt  and  later  at  Algona 
in  the  Upper  Des  Moines  office.    We  would  write  up  our 


94  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

local  and  editorial  matter,  ads.,  etc.,  hitch  a  team  and 
carry  it  over  and  have  it  set  np  and  the  papers  run  off, 
bring  them  back  and  mail  to  every  one  in  the  county.  In 
the  meantime  James  P.  White  and  W.  H.  Shea  started  the 
Democrat,  which  was  printed  at  Fort  Dodge.  The  cam- 
paign became  very  warm.  M.  L.  Brown  was  the  Republi- 
can candidate  for  county  treasurer  and  James  P.  White 
the  Democratic,  and  the  battle  waged  hottest  in  this  office, 
but  the  others  were  not  neglected.  The  last  five  weeks  a 
house  to  house  canvass  was  made  by  both  sides  and  not 
only  the  candidates  but  several  others  participated — on  the 
Republican  side,  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  T.  W.  Harrison,  H.  L. 
Burnell,  J.  L.  Martin,  and  myself.  While  the  contest  was 
very  spirited,  very  little  or  no  personal  abuse  was  indulged 
in  and  the  workers  and  candidates  on  the  different  sides 
often  would  meet  and  recite  incidents  of  the  campaign  in 
the  most  friendly  manner.  The  whole  Republican  ticket 
was  elected  and,  as  promised  during  the  campaign,  they 
entered  upon  a  policy  of  retrenchment  of  the  finances  of 
the  county.  First,  they  carried  a  proposition  for  a  mill 
cash  county  tax  and  paid  only  cash  for  supplies  bought; 
caused  every  bill  to  be  paid  at  100  cents  on  the  dollar ;  re- 
fused to  permit  the  county  treasurer  to  turn  in  county  war- 
rants in  lieu  of  cash  collected  on  county  tax  from  non- 
residents and  others  paying  in  cash,  but  only  accepted 
county  warrants  when  brought  to  the  office  by  the  tax- 
payer, for  the  county  part  of  his  taxes,  and  not  for  the 
special  county  tax.  This  brought  the  credit  of  the  county 
up  and  warrants  were  worth  their  face.  The  old  warrants 
outstanding  were  bonded  and  the  finances  of  the  county 
placed  on  a  firm  financial  basis.  While  Clay,  O'Brien, 
Lyon,  and  other  counties  in  Northwest  Iowa  repudiated 
their  indebtedness,  Palo  Alto  County  paid  hers  dollar  for 
dollar,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  most  of  them  had 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  95 

been  issued  at  $,25  and  quite  a  large  amount  of  them  had 
been  issued  to  hire  substitutes  during  the  war. ' '  ^ 

From  that  time  on  the  county  was  close  on  county  elec- 
tions for  many  years.  Sometimes  the  Democrats  and 
sometimes  the  Republicans  would  prevail  and  often  party 
success  would  be  divided.  These  campaigns  were  gener- 
ally animated  and  usually  fought  along  the  lines  of  na- 
tional issues  or  individual  qualifications.  Space  forbids 
any  further  consideration  of  this  interesting  subject.  A 
complete  list  of  all  county  officers  elected  in  the  county 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

The  tide  of  homesteaders  that  flowed  into  the  county 
continued  steadily  on  the  increase.  During  the  years 
1869-70-71-72  not  only  the  homesteaders,  but  also  the  home- 
seekers  who  bought  their  land,  came  in  great  numbers  to 
find  locations  on  Palo  Alto  County  farms.  These  new- 
comers, mostly  with  large  families,  seemed  to  settle  in 
clusters,  forming  a  sort  of  community  with  opportunities 
for  social  intercourse  and  neighborhood  friendships.  The 
day  of  the  isolated  settler  had  passed  and  the  community 
period  was  taking  its  place.  For  convenience  as  well  as 
for  historical  accuracy  the  remaning  part  of  this  decade 
(from  1868  to  1872  inclusive)  will  be  described  by  town- 
ships. 

West  Bend  township  was  fairly  well  settled  and  most 
of  the  new  settlers  chose  locations  in  the  newer  and  less 
settled  parts  of  the  county.  W.  G.  Henry  was  one  who 
came  to  West  Bend  township  in  April,  1870,  together  with 
his  brothers.  His  brothers,  however,  returned  after  the 
first  season  and  did  not  come  back  until  1890.  W.  G. 
stayed  on  his  land  in  section  20  until  1875,  when  he  moved 
to  Emmetsburg,  where  he  still  resides.  Among  the  other 
early  settlers  in  West  Bend  township  in  1868  were  E.  P. 
Vance,  John  F.  Little,  and  Frank  Little;  in  1869,  Geo. 

1 '  *  Recollections  of  Early  Palo  Alto  County, ' '  Geo.  B.  McCarty. 


96  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Brown,  J.  E.  Stone,  and  J.  C.  Fehlhauer;  in  1870  W.  H. 
H.  Booth  and  Sam  Post;  in  1871  Julius  Thatcher,  Sol 
Huntley,  F.  Dudgeon,  and  S.  W.  Ballard. 

The  first  settlers  in  Ellington  township  were  Ezekiel 
Randall,  his  wife,  six  boys  and  one  girl.  They  settled  on 
section  14,  May  14,  1868.  That  fall  James  Clemens  and 
John  Acker  and  their  families  moved  in.  In  the  follow- 
ing years,  Hud  Acker,  the  Moffit  family,  Jacob  Harriman, 
M.  Wening,  John  Truog,  Sr.,  Adam  Rund,  John  Krieg, 
Frank  Bursell,  Nicholas  Steil,  Anton  Seasnbaumer,  Mike 
Schneider,  J.  Bart,  G.  Swessinger,  John  Rupert,  Adam 
Kress,  August  Kunz,  John  Moffit,  Wm.  Buchacher,  E. 
Goodlaxon,  F.  Comer,  Henry  Munch,  John  Rogers,  H. 
C.  Booth,  and  John  Leuer,  became  residents  of  the  town- 
ship. In  the  spring  of  1870  Peter  Grethen  and  wife 
came  in  company  with  John  Wagner  and  his  wife  and  two 
children.  As  they  drove  by,  a  school  house  was  being 
built  for  the  towsnhip.  From  that  time  on  a  great  many 
settlers  located  on  the  fertile  plains  of  Ellington  township. 

Rush  Lake  township  was  a  mecca  for  newcomers  in 
1869.  A.  Griley,  D.  G.  Grier,  A.  J.  Scofield,  H.  C.  Obert, 
X.  S.  Loomis,  Philo  Sanf  ord,  Ed  and  H.  Sanders,  M.  Reed, 
W.  H.  Cammick,  Mike  Schuler,  Geo.  Fries,  Linn  Lough- 
ridge,  E.  Peterson,  Peter  Hartley,  M.  W.  Barker,  Isaac 
Perry,  and  others  came  that  year.  The  next  spring  B. 
Vanderryt,  R.  T.  Barnard,  S.  W.  Tressler,  and  A.  V. 
Lacy  joined  them.  In  1871  J.  P.  Stebbins,  D.  C.  Gross, 
A.  Elson,  Geo.  M.  White,  Joseph  Fish,  and  0.  0.  Williams 
came.  Fred  Cross  and  D.  M.  Wilcox  located  in  the  town- 
ship the  next  year,  and  from  that  time  on  the  settlers 
came  in  great  numbers. 

The  first  settlers  in  Silver  Lake  township  were  C.  A. 
Hoffman,  0.  A.  Sterner,  John  Mills,  and  Joseph  Marsh, 
who  moved  into  the  county  in  the  spring  of  1869.  Patrick 
Sherlock  selected  a  location  in  the  fall  of  1869,  and  in  the 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  97 

following  April  his  father,  Jas.  Sheriock,  his  mother,  and 
three  boys,  Dan,  John  and  Joe,  joined  him  and  together 
took  a  homestead  on  section  12.  That  year  quite  a  num- 
ber of  prairie  schooners  moved  into  the  township.  E.  D. 
Treat,  Hiram  Kittlewell,  Seymour  Morrison,  T.  D.  Collins, 
John  and  Dan  Collins,  J.  E.  Phoenix,  John  Hill,  Chas. 
Willis,  Wm.  Wiley,  L.  B.  Colburn,  Ovid  Hare,  Myron 
Hare,  Peter  Olesen,  Ole  Williamson,  G.  M.  Hamilton,  G. 
L.  Dickerman,  J.  C.  Eichards,  C.  L.  Harrington,  S.  Har- 
rington, G.  V.  Whitman,  J.  W.  Shepard,  and  Michael 
Whelan.  The  next  year  John  Boddy,  Eobt.  C.  Owens, 
and  H.  A.  Webster  located  there ;  and  the  next  year  H.  I. 
Snow,  Eufus  A.  Hartungs,  John  Sawyer,  and  T.  W.  Le- 
hane,  and  a  large  number  of  others  joined  the  Silver  Lake 
settlement.  A  postoffice  called  "Sherlock  P.  0."  was 
established  at  Mr.  Sherlock's  house  in  1874  and  remained 
there  until  Ayrshire  was  founded  in  1882.^ 

In  addition  to  the  settlers  already  mentioned  in  Fern 
Valley  there  were  many  homesteaders  in  Fern  Valley  and 
Fairfield  townships  during  this  period.  Dr.  A.  C.  Young 
and  Mrs.  Young  and  son  Jerry  (J.  C),  came  to  Palo  Alto 
County  in  1869  and  settled  on  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  6-95-31,  the  father  taking  the  north  half  and  the 
son  the  south  half.  The  father  died  in  73  and  the  mother 
and  Jerry  sold  out  in  76,  the  latter  moving  to  Emmets- 
burg,  the  mother  returning  to  Michigan  where  she  still 
lives.^  Some  of  the  other  settlers  in  these  two  townships 
during  the  early  seventies  were  the  following:  J.  M. 
Thompson,  Eufus  Miller,  Kelly  Bros.,  Geo.  Pugsley,  J.  E. 
Frame,  J.  P.  Davidson,  Wesley  Davidson,  John  Schneider, 
Thos.  Cullen,  Thos.  Eichardson,  Andrew  Satter,  Wm. 
Eichardson,  Ealph  Eichardson,  John  and  Steve  Hoskins, 

1  Since  the  above  was  written,  a  continued  article,  ' '  Some  Early  History 
of  Silver  Lake  Township,"  by  an  undisclosed  author,  has  appeared  in  the 
Ayrshire  Chronicle,  June  9  and  16,  1910. 

2  Statement  of  J.  C.  Young. 


98  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

T.  J.  Gates,  F.  E.  Walker,  W.  H.  Melon,  Simpson  La  Bar, 
Fred  Falb,  Wm.  R.  Acres,  John  E.  Martin,  and  Wm.  T. 
Drennen. 

With  the  great  tide  of  settlers  that  came  into  the  county 
in  1869,  the  best  lands  were  early  picked  out.  A  few  of 
the  best  locations  in  Independence  and  Fairfield  townships 
were  thus  selected.  Some  of  the  settlers  of  that  year  may 
be  mentioned.  C.  0.  Erstad,  A.  C.  Erstad,  L.  Seely,  James 
B.  Elliott,  John  Jenswold,  Fred  Wagener,  and  Henry 
Hullen.  During  the  next  two  years  a  large  number  found 
homes  there.  John  Higley,  Jacob  Mathieson,  Julius 
Mathieson,  Peter  0.  Peterson,  Paul  T.  Hougstein,  S.  A. 
Rustabakke,  C.  P.  Yeager,  Freeman  Woodin,  A.  P.  and 
Douglas  Beck,  Geo.  L.  Clarke,  P.  C.  Forrest,  Hans  Han- 
sen, Adam  Domek,  Mat  Gappa,  Geo.  Kleigle,  and  many 
others. 

Aside  from  the  very  early  settlers  who  had  selected 
good  river  locations,  there  were  not  many  people  in  Ne- 
vada township.  John  McCormick,  E.  J.  King,  A.  L. 
Sprout,  L.  N.  Sprout,  C.  N.  Sprout,  settled  there  in  the 
early  '70s  and  made  their  permanent  home  on  the  broad 
prairies. 

In  Emmetsburg  township  David  and  J.  H.  Millea  were 
with  the  hardy  pioneers  of  1868  and  settlement  was  slow 
there  until  1870  when  J.  J.  Kane  and  1871  when  Myles 
McNally  and  their  families  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
extensive  settlement  of  later  years. 

In  Great  Oak  township,  in  addition  to  those  already 
mentioned,  several  families  came  in  1868 — Terrence,  Robt. 
and  John  Walsh,  Thomas  Egan;  and  a  large  number 
in  the  next  few  years,  John  Wooley,  Sam  Dyer,  James 
Brennan,  Thomas  Martin,  John  S.  Martin,  John  Groff, 
Milo  Gardner,  Edward  Kelley,  Philip  Wessar,  Theo.  Wes- 
sar,  G.  Wessar,  B.  Quigley,  Peter  Quigley,  Thos.  Conlon, 
Martin  McCarty,  Geo.  H.  Beach,  and  John  Jennings.     In 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  99 

October,  1872,  Peter  Jones,  James  Keenan,  and  John 
Hand  with  their  families,  moved  in.  Peter  Jones,  in 
describing  the  condition  of  the  country  at  that  time,  said : 
'  *  There  was  high  water  from  within  a  mile  of  my  house, 
up  to  Cullen's  corner,  when  I  came  here  and  from  the  foot 
of  Burns 's  hill  up  to  Coonan's  corner  before  the  town  was 
moved  up  here  and  even  after  it  was  moved.  The  wagon 
boxes  would  be  down  in  the  water  and  the  water  up  to  the 
horses '  sides.  One  year  a  man  stayed  there  as  guide.  He 
was  one  of  old  man  Owen's  sons.  When  we  would  come 
into  the  water  at  Cullen's  with  the  team,  he  would  take 
care  of  the  team  until  he  put  us  on  the  bridge.  He  was 
a  sort  of  pilot.     That  was  before  they  got  the  grade  in. "  ^ 

In  1869  Hiram  Millerke  built  a  house  on  a  claim  in 
Freedom  township.  It  was  then  the  only  house  east  of 
the  lake  except  Michael  Jackman's  on  the  east  shore. 
Later  John  Donovan  settled  on  section  26  and  became 
a  prominent  figure  in  the  life  of  the  township  and  of  the 
town  of  Emmetsburg.  In  1870  John  and  Pat  Galleger 
settled  on  section  28  and  later  John  Lane,  Terence  Cullen, 
Orin  and  Wm.  Ryder,  Patrick  C.  Nolan,  John  Nolan,  Wm. 
Harrison,  Albert  Harrison,  Amos  Letson,  Tom  Prouty, 
Chester  Prouty,  and  others  came  to  that  neighborhood.  T. 
W.  Harrison  bought  a  farm  in  section  28-96-32,  and  J.  N. 
Prouty  homesteaded  an  eighty  near  by,  but  as  his  wife  ob- 
jected to  living  in  a  sod  house,  he  sold  out  and  moved  back 
to  Humboldt. 

In  the  fall  of  1869  several  homesteaders  met  at  Fort 
Dodge  while  selecting  land,  became  acquainted  and  to- 
gether came  out  to  Palo  Alto  County  and  settled  in  the 
northwest  part  of  the  county.  These  were  L.  C.  Christen- 
sen,  James  Olsen,  L.  P.  Duhn,  John  Nelson,  J.  J.  Skow, 
P.  C.  Adamson,  and  Lars  Olsen.  The  next  year  they  were 
joined  by  J.  S.  Duhn,  Thos.  Peterson,  Nels  Jensen,  Peter 

1  Interview  with  Peter  Jones. 


100  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Anderson.  Later  Lars  Tlioreson  and  Simon  Thoreson 
came.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Scandinavian  settle- 
ment in  the  north  part  of  the  county  and  from  this  sturdy- 
stock  has  come  some  of  our  very  best  citizens,  and  this 
community  has  been  a  power  for  good  in  the  affairs  of  the 
county. 

C.  S.  Duncan,  in  the  spring  of  1871,  drove  through  from 
Wisconsin  to  Palo  Alto  County  and  located  a  homestead 
on  the  land  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  north  side  of  Graet- 
tinger.  After  building  a  shack  he  sent  for  his  wife  and 
children.  They  struck  Iowa  at  a  very  inopportune  time, 
as  the  grasshoppers  took  their  crop  year  after  year  and 
even  the  hardest  kind  of  work  failed  to  accomplish  much 
against  such  a  serious  handicap.  Mr.  Duncan,  telling  of 
his  experiences  soon  after  they  arrived  in  Palo  Alto  Coun- 
ty, says :  ' '  I  had  saved  up  ten  dollars  and  I  hitched  up 
and  drove  to  Fort  Dodge,  bought  potatoes  at  $.45  a  bushel 
and  brought  them  to  Emmetsburg  near  the  river,  and  ped- 
dled them  off  at  $1  about  as  fast  as  I  could  pour  them  out 
of  a  sack.  I  made  three  trips.  "^  By  teaching,  as  both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duncan  were  excellent  teachers,  they  man- 
aged to  get  ahead  and  after  having  lived  on  their  home- 
stead a  year  (Mr.  Duncan  having  served  in  the  army  four 
years,  and  Mrs.  Duncan  also  having  had  experience  as  an 
army  nurse),  they  proved  up,  raised  $500  on  the  place  and 
built  a  very  comfortable  house.  In  1876  he  sold  his  place 
in  Walnut  township  and  bought  a  place  in  Ellington  town- 
ship, in  the  south  part  of  the  county,  where  he  lived  until 
he  moved  to  the  city  of  Emmetsburg.^ 

Lost  Island  township  at  first  contained  all  that  is  now 
Highland  and  Lost  Island,  as  they  were  not  divided  until 
1878.  John  A.  Anthony,  who  settled  on  the  north  side  of 
Lost  Island  Lake,  was  the  first  settler  in  this  township. 
He  used  to  keep  a  postoffice  called  Lost  Island  and  it  was 

1  Letter  of  C.  S.  Duncan. 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  101 

headquarters  for  the  stage  line  from  Algona  to  Spencer. 
James  Freeman,  brother-in-law  of  Anthony,  located  on 
the  eastern  side  of  Lost  Island  Lake;  Cruikshank  and 
Amos  J.  Miller  settled  there  soon  after.  In  1870  Mc- 
Laughlin came,  and  in  the  fall  of  1871  the  Barringer  boys, 
Emmet,  Clayburn  and  Lyman,  located  in  the  township. 
Dwight  Golf  also  came  that  year.  The  Euthvens  home- 
steaded  there  in  1870,  but  went  back  east  and  worked  on 
the  railroad  all  summer,  coming  back  to  the  homestead 
in  the  fall  and  resided  here  permanently  from  that  on.^ 

In  Lost  Island  township  in  addition  to  those  already 
named,  James  Spaulding  and  John  Cruikshank  came  in 
1869. 

Others  coming  to  Lost  Island  in  1870-71  are  as  follows : 
Torry  Knutson,  P.  H.  Punkley,  Warren  Goff,  Halver 
Rierson,  W.  I.  Perry,  J.  B.  Fellows,  Anfin  Rierson,  Severt 
Johnson,  A.  Simonson,  G.  Gunderson,  Torkel  Larson,  and 
many  others  too  numerous  to  mention  in  the  brief  space 
at  our  command. 

In  Highland  township  in  addition  to  those  already  re- 
ferred to  the  following  became  residents  in  1870 :  J.  T. 
Soners,  Chas.  Harris,  John  Brennan,  Thos.  Lee,  Martin 
Doyle,  P.  Radigan,  P.  McAlhany,  D.  Foly,  Michael  Flem- 
ing, John  Fleming,  James  Lynch.  In  the  following  year 
many  more  came:  Alex  Ruthven,  John  Ruthven,  Robt. 
Ruthven,  Joseph  Damon,  James  Currans,  J.  M.  Carpenter, 
James  McBride,  Lars  Bargstrom,  Silas  Ryder,  F.  0. 
Howe.  In  1872  Peter  Hanson  and  John  W.  Hovey  cast 
their  lot  with  the  people  of  this  township,  and  the  settlers 
began  to  come  in  great  numbers.^ 

Walnut  township  has  already  been  referred  to,  but  be- 
sides the  earlier  settlers  already  mentioned,  D.  M.  Leek 
and  the  Conway  family  settled  in  Walnut  township  in 
1870,  and  in  the  following  year  E.  P.  McEvoy,  a  well- 
known  settler,  located  near  the  present  town  site  of  Os- 

1  Interviews  with  Amos  Miller,  E.  P.  Barringer,  Alex  Ruthven,  and  others. 


102  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

good.  L.  M.  Cooley,  a  retired  Baptist  minister,  also  came 
there  to  live.  Thomas  Moran,  James  and  Thomas  0  'Con- 
nor, made  their  home  in  that  township  that  year.  P.  F. 
Van  Gorden  and  family  in  the  same  year  settled  on  a  farm 
near  the  present  site  of  Graettinger. 

Vernon  township  with  its  fertile  lands  did  not  long 
evade  the  homeseekers.  In  1869  David  G.  Baker  came 
from  Wisconsin  and  in  the  early  spring  settled  in  Vernon 
township.  He  has  kept  a  careful  diary  throughout  his 
life  and  the  little  book  that  records  the  daily  events  of  the 
trip  to  Palo  Alto  County  and  their  first  experiences  there 
is  an  interesting  and  valuable  historical  record.  J.  C. 
Baker  was  another  prominent  settler  of  that  township. 
Other  settlers  there  in  1869  were  Chas.  C.  Gibbs,  H.  R. 
Boardman,  S.  Hammond,  and  Rev.  B.  C.  Hammond,  H.  F. 
Giddings,  U.  Butler,  H.  T.  Allen.  In  the  following  year 
B.  Bradley,  C.  T.  Allen,  and  L.  C.  Barnum  settled  there, 
and  from  that  time  on  the  settlers  came  in  ever  increas- 
ing numbers. 

Thos.  Slater  tells  his  story  as  follows:  **In  the  year 
of  1871,  the  last  of  March,  we  moved  from  Wisconsin  to 
Vernon  township  and  took  up  a  homestead  on  section  30, 
five  miles  north  of  the  present  town.  After  having  gone 
to  Algona  to  purchase  lumber  to  build  a  house,  I  began 
its  erection  about  the  seventh  of  April.  It  was  not  a  man- 
sion, however,  the  boards  were  set  up  end  ways,  the  roof 
was  shingle  and  the  one- story  home  was  soon  ready  for  its 
occupants.  On  the  ninth  of  April  my  family  and  I  began 
life  anew  in  this  humble  hut,  on  a  treeless  prairie.  The 
following  morning  we  were  welcomed  to  our  new  dwelling 
place  by  a  blinding  blizzard  that  lasted  three  days.  We 
awoke  on  the  first  day  of  the  sweeping  storm  to  find  the 
floor  and  bed  covered  with  six  inches  of  snow  that  had 
made  its  way  through  the  open  cracks  between  the  boards. 
We  had  on  hand  only  a  half  bunch  of  shingles  for  fire- 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  103 

wood,  so  I  was  obliged  to  walk  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  Rev. 
B.  C.  Hammond's  to  get  wood  to  build  a  fire.  At  first  I 
lost  my  way  in  the  raging  blast,  but  finally  succeeded  in 
reaching  Rev.  Hammond's  house.  Loading  myself  with 
all  the  cordwood  I  could  carry  on  my  back,  I  started  for 
home.  I  arrived  home  about  nine  o'clock  after  having 
been  gone  an  hour.  I  immediately  set  about  cleaning 
snow  off  the  floor  and  made  ready  to  build  a  fire  so  that 
the  rest  of  the  family  could  get  up  and  not  perish  from 
cold.  At  the  time  of  the  storm  the  grain  was  nearly  all 
sowed  and  up,  and  as  the  snow  melted  away  nature  showed 
forth  its  beautiful  garments.  The  fields  were  turning 
green  and  bright  blades  of  grass  shone  in  the  sunshine. 
In  1871 1  was  able  to  secure  work  of  John  Robbins  at  $1.50 
per  day,  walking  five  miles  morning  and  evening  to  and 
from  the  Old  Town.  In  1872  I  worked  for  McKinley, 
who  ran  an  implement  shop  or  hardware  store.  For 
two  years  I  teamed  it  to  Algona  for  Mr.  McKinley. 
In  the  winter  of  1873  another  severe  storm  swept  the 
prairie,  a  blizzard  lasting  the  length  of  three  days.  Dur- 
ing the  afternoon  of  the  first  day  about  four  o'clock  I 
started  to  the  bam,  hoping  that  I  would  be  able  to  reach 
it  in  safety  as  my  stock  was  badly  in  need  of  attention. 
Having  gone  as  I  thought  in  the  direction  of  the  bam  and 
far  enough  as  I  supposed  to  have  reached  it,  the  thought 
suddenly  filled  my  mind  that  I  had  lost  my  way  and  I  began 
plodding  back  in  the  tracks  I  had  already  made  in  the 
snow  to  find  myself  running  against  the  barn  which  I  had 
previously  been  within  one  foot  of  without  knowing  it. 
I  set  about  feeding  the  stock,  but  immediately  the  question 
arose,  how  will  I  find  my  way  back  to  the  house  1  I  called 
and  my  wife  came  at  once  to  the  door  and  responded.  So 
I  asked  her  to  keep  up  a  yell  until  I  reached  the  house.  I 
resolved,  however,  to  not  attempt  another  trip  to  the  barn 
until  the  storm  had  abated.    After  the  storm  the  snow 


104  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

being  very  deep,  I  could  not  reach  the  river,  the  accus- 
tomed place  for  procuring  my  wood.  Passing  Pat  Nolan's 
on  the  way  to  the  Old  Town,  I  spied  a  half  cord  of  rotten 
wood  near  the  house.  I  asked  Pat  what  he  would  take 
for  it.  His  reply  was  three  dollars.  I  told  him  that  I 
thought  that  pretty  steep,  but  he  assured  me  that  it  was 
very  cheap  at  that  price.  I  purchased  the  wood,  however, 
and  on  returning  home  from  town  loaded  it  on  my  sled. 
Later  on  I  found  a  job  with  Nolan  hauling  hay.  I  helped 
him  six  days  and  was  allowed  three  dollars  for  my  work, 
which  exactly  paid  for  my  half  cord  of  wood.  And  by 
this  time  the  wood  was  burned.  For  three  successive 
years  the  grasshoppers  took  the  crops.  After  having  sold 
the  cows  and  calves  to  get  seed  again,  I  lost  all.  After 
the  grasshoppers  had  taken  their  flight,  naught  remained 
but  a  wife,  two  children,  and  a  yoke  of  cattle.  And  so 
with  my  small  start  I  made  my  way  for  the  Old  Town  to 
begin  life  anew  after  many  hardships.  And  here  I  have 
remained  until  the  present  day. ' '  ^ 

Mrs.  Slater  writes  as  follows :  ' '  I  too  shared  the  hard- 
ships of  my  husband  in  those  early  days  when  there  was  a 
constant  struggle  with  poverty.  It  was  not  an  easy  thing 
for  me  to  see  my  husband,  thinly  clad,  wend  his  way  across 
the  bleak  prairie  in  search  of  work.  How  often,  lonely 
and  afraid,  I  sat  by  the  roadside  with  my  two  children 
awaiting  his  return,  when  the  weather  was  such  that  we 
could  wander  out-doors.  Sometimes  we  sat  for  hours  un- 
til far  across  the  fields  I  heard  a  whistle  that  made  my 
heart  glad,  for  then  I  knew  that  he  was  returning  to  his 
little  flock  at  home.  I  wanted  to  do  something  to  help  him 
in  his  struggle  to  earn  a  living,  but  I  could  think  of  only  a 
few  ways  that  a  woman  with  a  family  could  earn  a  dollar. 
I  asked  him  to  inquire  of  Mrs.  McKinley,  for  whose  hus- 
band he  was  working  at  the  time,  if  there  was  any  work 

1  Letter  of  Thomas  Slater. 


A  DECADE  OF  GROWTH  —  1863-1872  105 

she  could  give  me  to  do.  She  sent  me  a  sack  of  carpet  rags 
which  I  sewed  and  was  given  a  dollar  in  return.  This 
dollar  was  not  spent  for  luxuries  I  assure  you,  but  it  was 
carefully  invested  in  some  of  the  common  necessities  of 
life.  After  the  grasshoppers  had  destroyed  our  crops 
and  we  had  taken  up  our  residence  in  the  Old  Town,  I 
continued  to  earn  a  dollar  at  every  opportunity.  I  was 
ambitious  and  desired  to  work  and  save  that  in  later  years 
we  might  have  a  comfortable  living.  I  was  also  anxious 
for  my  children's  welfare.  I  was  willing  to  toil  if  they, 
through  my  help,  might  be  able  to  acquire  an  education. 
But  I  realized  that  we  were  poor,  very  poor,  and  that  only 
through  hard  work  would  we  be  able  to  rear  our  family 
and  keep  back  the  wolf  from  the  door."^ 

''Perhaps  it  will  be  interesting  to  know  something  of 
the  prices  in  those  times.  In  1871  we  paid  five  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  a  hundred  for  flour  and  then  could  only  get 
a  few  pounds  apiece.  This  being  brought  by  a  mail  car- 
rier, from  Estherville.  We  paid  one  dollar  per  bushel  for 
com,  seventy-five  cents  per  bushel  for  oats  and  a  dollar 
and  a  half  a  bushel  for  potatoes.  In  that  year  I  paid  one 
dollar  and  half  per  bushel  for  potatoes  and  after  they  were 
raised  I  could  only  get  ten  cents  a  bushel  if  I  were  able  to 
sell  them.  But  no  one  wanted  them  even  at  that.  We 
had  a  larger  crop  of  potatoes  that  year  than  we  have  ever 
had  since.  There  was  also  a  large  crop  of  other  kinds  of 
grain. ' '  ^ 

The  prairies  were  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of 
grass  in  the  early  days.  The  surface  water  collected  in 
ponds  and  these  tended  to  produce  large  and  rank  growths 
of  grass  and  vegetation.  The  grass  in  turn  prevented 
rapid  evaporation,  so  that  the  prevalence  of  tall  grass 
and  numerous  sloughs  was  one  of  the  characteristic  feat- 

1  Letter  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Slater. 

2  Statement  of  Thos.  Slater. 


106  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Tires  of  those  periods.  These  numerous  ponds  were  pro- 
lific breeding  places  for  mosquitoes.  All  the  old  settlers 
have  vivid  remembrances  of  these  pests,  and  they  describe 
the  monstrous  size,  strenuous  singing  power,  and  keen 
penetration  with  feelings  intensified  by  years  of  experi- 
ence on  the  frontier  plains. 

The  pleasures  of  these  people  were  very  simple,  and 
their  gala  days  were  few  and  far  apart.  The  youths  of 
those  days,  now  at  a  ripe  old  age,  recall  with  smiles  the 
frolics  that  lightened  the  long  days  of  heavy  toil  and  pri- 
vation. 

The  women  of  these  families  were  among  the  bravest 
and  most  self-sacrificing  in  time  of  need  or  danger.  It  is 
no  easy  lot  to  be  cast  upon  the  broad  prairie  of  a  new 
country  surrounded  by  the  broad  expanses  of  land  and 
sky,  with  scarcely  an  object  to  break  the  monotony  of  the 
prospect.  Often  the  nearest  neighbor  was  miles  away, 
and  only  at  long  intervals  came  the  news  from  the  east 
that  was  so  eagerly  awaited.  Provisions  and  fuel  were 
sometimes  scarce  and  the  good  wives  often  had  to  work 
and  save  to  eke  out  the  scanty  living  in  times  of  scarcity. 
Content  with  little  of  the  material  things  of  life,  but  pos- 
sessed of  boundless  hope  and  courage,  the  good  women  of 
the  pioneer  days  shared  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  the 
frontier  and  thus  contributed  to  the  making  of  history  on 
the  western  prairies. 

This  decade  from  1863  to  1872  was  indeed  a  period  of 
growth  for  Palo  Alto  County.  In  population,  organiza- 
tion and  material  prosperity,  the  advance  had  been  sub- 
stantial. The  reverses  and  hard  times  of  the  year  1873 
brought  this  growth  to  an  abrupt  stop.  During  the  next 
few  years  everything  was  at  a  standstill,  and  this  interval 
was  the  time  of  quiet  that  preceded  the  next  period  of 
development  so  soon  to  follow. 


The  "Old  Town"  of  Emmetsburg 


Threshing  for  Martin  Coonan  in  1871 


CHAPTEK  XI 
The  Old  Town 

The  first  attempts  at  building  a  county-seat  were  fail- 
ures because  they  were  purely  speculative.  They  were 
premature  and  lacked  natural  advantages  that  would  com- 
pel rapid  advancement.  The  first  town  in  the  county  was 
a  natural  growth.  It  was  unplanned  and  unheralded, 
located  by  force  of  circumstances,  and  grew  from  a  natural 
and  spontaneous  necessity. 

Martin  Coonan  had  built  a  log  cabin  in  1858  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Des  Moines  River  on  section  23-96-33.  This 
hospitable  little  home  was  the  stopping  place  for  weary 
travelers  for  several  years.  About  1865,  Mr.  Coonan 
hauled  brick  that  was  left  over  when  the  court  house  at 
Paoli  was  rebuilt  and  built  a  new  brick  house  about  16  x  24, 
two  stories  high.  He  used  his  old  cabin  as  an  addition  or 
lean-to.  This  pretentious  dwelling  at  once  became  the 
"tavern"  of  the  county  and  many  a  wayfarer  found  shel- 
ter and  good  cheer  within  its  walls.  A  traveler  coming 
to  Palo  Alto  County  for  the  first  time  in  1869,  thus  de- 
scribes his  impressions :  * '  The  next  day  we  plodded  west- 
ward and  crossed  into  Palo  Alto  County  and  later  in  the 
day  first  beheld  Medium  Lake  at  a  point  north  of  the 
Michael  Jackman  home.  When  we  passed  the  house  the 
children  came  out  and  stood  in  a  row  (like  an  old  fashioned 
spelling  class)  the  largest  at  the  head  and  ranging  down 
to  one  just  able  to  stand  alone.  We  came  along  the  east 
shore  and  around  the  foot  of  the  lake  (where  Call's  Addi- 
tion is  now  platted)  and  thence  northwesterly.  When 
near  where  the  Scott  Ormsby  home  now  stands  we  came 


108  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

across  three  small  children  herding  some  cows.  We  asked 
them,  'Where  is  EmmetsburgT  One  of  them,  a  girl,  re- 
plied, 'You  are  there  now,  sir.'  'Yes,  but  where  is  the 
town?'  'Eight  here  is  where  it  is.'  'But  we  don't  see 
any  town.'  'Sure,  and  don't  you  see  that  stake  there  in 
the  grass,  and  that  one  there  -  that's  Emmetsburg. '  '  But 
where  is  the  hotel?'  'Oh,  it's  Coonan's  you  want.  It's 
over  there  beyond  the  hill.'  So  on  over  the  hill  and  just 
as  the  sun  was  setting  we  arrived  at  Coonan's."  ^ 

The  name  still  clung  to  the  stakes  of  the  abandoned  town 
that  Hoolihan  and  his  friends  had  so  confidently  laid  out. 
But  Coonan's  "Hotel"  was  the  magnet  that  drew  all  com- 
ers. Mr.  Coonan  had  made  quite  a  road  in  hauling  the 
brick  to  his  house  and  with  an  eye  for  business,  put  up  a 
sign  some  distance  out, ' '  Emmetsburg, ' '  with  a  hand  point- 
ing toward  his  home.  This  deflected  travel  from  the 
staked-out  town  of  Emmetsburg  on  the  shore  of  Medium 
Lake,  and  from  the  deserted  town  of  Paoli.  Mr.  Coonan 
also  secured  the  postoffice  and  that  added  to  the  prestige. 
The  Coonan  place  thus  became  the  objective  point  for  all 
travelers  and  settlers. 

In  the  fall  of  1868  Thomas  C.  Davis  came  to  the  county, 
bringing  with  him  an  old  saw-mill  outfit.  He  formed  a 
partnership  with  E.  G.  Pond  and  together  they  built  a 
brush  dam  across  the  Des  Moines  Eiver  a  short  distance 
from  Coonan's  and  set  up  the  saw-mill.  They  began  to 
saw  some  lumber  for  the  settlers  and  this  new  industry 
was  the  final  step  in  the  locating  of  the  real  town,  which 
soon  began  to  straggle  along  the  road  leading  to  the  Coo- 
nan house. 

The  next  spring  "  N.  D.  Bearss  built  a  small  shed  10  x  12, 
about  6  feet  high  on  one  side  and  7  feet  on  the  other.  This 
was  built  by  setting  some  old  slabs  and  poles  in  the  ground 
and  tacking  tarred  paper  on  and  then  banking  up  on  the 

1 ' '  EecoUections  of  Early  Palo  Alto  County, ' '  Geo.  B.  McCarty. 


Geo.  B.  McCartv 


THE  OLD  TOWN  109 

outside  with  hay.  The  roof  was  made  with  poles  and  hay. 
In  this  'store'  he  had  about  a  wheelbarrow  full  of  goods, 
some  pipes  and  smoking  tobacco,  etc.  He  was  alone  and 
lived  in  this  shed,  boarding  himself. ' '  ^ 

The  same  summer  *'M.  D.  Daniels  built  a  one-story 
building  about  12x14,  which  I  think  was  made  entirely 
out  of  native  lumber.  Daniels  and  his  wife  and  two  child- 
ren lived  in  this.  He  was  a  blacksmith  and  had  a  shop 
about  10x12  made  by  standing  poles  on  end  and  with 
slabs  nailed  on  them.  The  roof,  what  there  was  of  it, 
was  of  slabs.  "^ 

That  fall  George  B.  McCarty  came  out  to  Palo  Alto 
County  to  cast  his  fortunes  with  the  new  town.  He  thus 
described  the  journey  and  his  experiences  in  getting  set- 
tled :  ^  "I  had  then  decided  to  locate  at  Emmetsburg,  and 
in  October,  1869,  having  remained  until  after  election  to 
vote  and  work  for  my  townsman,  Samuel  Merrill,  for  gov- 
ernor of  Iowa,  two  days  later  Al  Jones  and  myself  with 
my  few  belongings  started  for  Emmetsburg.  We  went 
from  McGregor  via  boat  to  Dubuque  and  from  Dubuque  to 
Fort  Dodge  via  railroad.  At  Fort  Dodge  we  hired  teams, 
Al  Jones  having  purchased  a  stock  of  goods  with  which  to 
start  a  store  at  Emmetsburg,  when  we  should  get  there. 
We  had  three  teams  loaded  with  lumber  and  goods ;  were 
three  days  getting  through.  Had  to  unload  three  or  four 
times  and  carry  the  lumber  and  goods  out  when  the  teams 
would  get  stuck  in  sloughs,  which  was  not  only  hard  work, 
but  wet  and  muddy  as  well.  We  arrived  at  Emmetsburg 
October  20,  1869,  after  dark.    We  put  up  and  covered  up 

1  statement  of  Geo.  B.  McCarty.  Chas.  Nolan,  J,  J.  Mahan,  and  other 
settlers'  descriptions  agree  with  the  one  here  given. 

2  Statement  of  Geo.  B.  McCarty. 

3  He  had  previously  taken  an  extended  trip  through  western  Iowa  with 
Ben  Johnson  in  1869,  and  spent  four  or  five  days  in  Emmetsburg,  examin- 
ing the  surrounding  country.  Al  Jones  was  then  stopping  at  Coonan's. 
Statement  of  Geo.  B.  McCarty. 


110  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

our  goods.  The  next  morning  we  unloaded  the  goods  and 
our  personal  effects  on  the  ground  and  put  some  of  the 
lumber  over  them.  Commenced  to  look  for  a  carpenter 
and  found  there  were  only  two  in  the  county  —  Thos.  C. 
Davis,  who  was  building  a  small  house  for  Rev.  B.  C. 
Hammond  on  his  homestead,  the  east  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  30-97-32 ;  and  W.  H.  Caner,  who  was  somewhere 
in  the  southeast  part  of  the  county  putting  up  a  shanty. 
Jones  had  a  saw  and  hatchet ;  I  had  a  hammer  and  jack- 
knife  ;  and  being  thus  supplied  with  tools,  we  commenced 
a  building  16x20  from  the  lumber  we  had  brought.  As 
we  expected  to  get  some  native  lumber  at  the  saw-mill,  we 
had  only  brought  a  small  amount  of  dimension  lumber 
and  finding  no  native  lumber,  we  used  the  lumber  we  had 
for  temporary  sills  and  plates  and  a  few  rafters.  Joists 
were  not  needed,  because  we  had  no  flooring  material  and 
mother  earth  made  a  good  solid  floor,  as  we  had  found  a 
high  spot  where  it  was  reasonably  solid.  By  night  we  had 
the  frame  work  well  up  and  not  having  any  shingles  and  a 
small  amount  of  boards,  we  had  to  use  them  sparingly,  but 
had  quite  a  large  roll  of  building  paper  which  in  that  case 
covered  a  multitude  of  omissions  and  quite  a  pile  of  goods. 
That  night  we  had  our  goods  piled  up  in  one  corner,  yet  in 
the  boxes,  in  fair  shape.  And  the  heavens  smiled  upon  us 
and  no  rain  fell.  The  second  day  with  what  lumber  we 
had  and  our  building  paper  we  had  the  building  well  en- 
closed and  roofed  in. 

' '  On  the  third  day  it  rained.  The  fourth  day  I  started 
to  Fort  Dodge  with  Jo  Smith,  Culver,  and  Clark,  three 
homesteaders,  who  had  recently  located  in  the  county  but 
had  horse  teams,  for  more  lumber  and  materials.  It  was 
damp  and  rainy  in  the  morning,  but  about  eight  o'clock, 
when  we  were  about  five  miles  on  our  way  the  wind  sud- 
denly turned  to  the  northwest  and  blew  a  gale.  In  less 
than  an  hour  the  mud  began  to  freeze  on  our  wagon  wheels 


THE  OLD  TOWN  111 

and  ice  form  on  the  water  standing  in  the  grass  and 
sloughs,  and  I  believe  I  never  saw  so  cold  a  day.  We 
walked  nearly  all  the  time  and  then  nearly  froze.  We 
reached  Humboldt  about  nine  o'clock  that  night,  and  so 
cold  it  was  that  ice  formed  on  the  shallow  sloughs  that 
would  almost  bear  our  horses.  They  would  climb  on  the 
ice  and  it  would  break  in,  while  the  mud  would  freeze  on 
our  wagon  till  we  would  have  to  chop  it  off  with  hatchets 
so  that  the  team  could  haul  the  wagons.  Next  morning 
we  started  and  reached  Fort  Dodge  at  noon,  the  ice  in  the 
sloughs  bearing  the  horses  and  wagon.  Loaded  up  and 
next  day  started  on  our  return  trip.  The  weather  was 
some  warmer,  but  the  ice  would  break  and  cut  through 
and  our  wagons  would  become  stalled.  For  three  days 
we  worked,  unloaded  and  carried  out  our  loads  and 
re-loaded  often  in  water  and  ice  far  above  our  knees, 
and  always  wet  and  cold.  We  finally  reached  Emmets- 
burg  on  the  night  of  the  fifth  day  and  then  set  to  shingling 
the  building.  Took  the  tarred  paper  off  the  sides  and  put 
in  studs  and  joists  and  finished  up  the  building.  This 
time  we  brought  one  door  and  two  windows  and  12-inch 
wide  boards  to  lay  across  the  joists  for  floor.  We  also 
brought  some  flour,  1  barrel  of  pork,  1  barrel  of  molasses 
and  1  barrel  of  salt.  I  remember  this  fact  well  from  the 
fact  that  when  we  would  get  stalled  those  barrels  would 
have  to  be  rolled  off  and  rolled  out  through  the  mud  and 
water  to  dry  land  and  then  reloaded,  which,  when  I  now 
well  remember  that  the  mud  and  water  were  often  more 
than  knee  deep  —  well,  we  had  one  man  in  our  crowd  who 
was  inclined  to  swear,  and  it  took  a  great  amount  of  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  other  three  of  us  to  convince  him  that 
no  amount  of  swearing  could  better  a  job  like  that. 

''Coonan's  farm  house  was  of  brick  16x24,  with  a 
small  wood  addition.  The  brick  part  was  12  feet  high, 
giving  an  attic  chamber,  one  room,  and  what  Mrs.  Coonan 


112  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

called  the  '  landing, '  a  small  space  at  the  head  of  the  stairs 
partitioned  off  by  itself.  The  balance  of  this  attic  chamber 
in  one  room  was  commonly  known  as  the  '  school  section. ' 
This  contained  four  beds,  one  in  each  corner,  and  the  bal- 
ance of  the  floor  space  was  occupied  by  the  10  to  30  other 
male  guests  and  members  of  the  family  and  when  all  the 
floor  space,  including  that  under  the  beds,  was  fully  taken, 
later  guests  had  to  '  sit  it  out '  down  stairs.^  The  lower 
story  was  divided  into  a  kitchen  (very  small),  a  small  bed 
room  and  a  living  room,  but  usually  the  cooking  was  done 
in  the  living  room.  The  small  bed  room  was  occupied  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs,  Coonan,  but  when  women  were  there  Mrs. 
Coonan  sent  Martin  to  the  '  section '  and  the  women  oc- 
cupied the  bed  room. 

''I  boarded  at  Coonan 's  for  nearly  two  months  and 
then  Al  Jones  and  I  went  and  slept  in  the  old  saw-mill. 
We  could  look  out  and  see  the  stars  and  during  that  Jan- 
uary and  February  and  March  it  was  cold  and  we  had 
three  or  four  big  snows  and  blizzards.  I  remember  one 
February  morning  when  Jones  and  I  awoke  the  snow  had 
blown  in  and  formed  a  drift  completely  covering  our  bed 
with  more  than  two  feet  of  snow.  We  used  to  take  such 
of  our  clothes  as  we  took  off  and  our  shoes  in  bed  with  us. 
We  had  a  bedstead  made  of  willow  poles  which  was  about 
114  feet  high,  and  we  nailed  a  piece  of  slab  on  the  head  and 
foot  and  had  a  big  army  blanket  which  we  would  stretch 
over  these  slabs  from  head  to  foot  and  it  protected  us 
against  the  snow,  unless  it  was  a  regular  blizzard,  when 
it  would  fill  up  over  the  bed  so  that  in  the  morning  we 
could  only  with  difficulty  extricate  ourselves.  But  if  cold, 
the  air  was  of  a  better  quality  than  in  the  school  section 
and  we  could  get  it  first  hand.  This  mill  building  was 
owned  by  Thos.  C.  Davis  and  E.  G.  Pond.    Davis  had  par- 

1  This  was,  as  T.  W.  Harrison  says,  ' '  A  silent  inducement  to  retire 
early."     Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison. 


THE  OLD  TOWN  113 

titioned  off  a  room  in  one  end  of  the  mill  building  about  12 
or  14  feet  square.  This  partition  was  made  by  setting 
poles  upright  and  then  nailing  other  poles  and  a  few  pieces 
of  slabs  to  the  upright  and  then  setting  another  row  of 
poles  and  filling  in  between  with  hay.  Davis  and  his  wife 
and  two  small  children  lived  in  that  room  and  Pond,  who 
was  a  single  man,  boarded  with  Davis.  Sometimes  when 
it  was  too  stormy,  Al  Jones  and  I  would  camp  in  the  store 
building,  but  it  was  so  small  that  we  could  not  have  a  bed 
there  but  would  roll  up  in  blankets  on  the  floor. 

' '  Aside  from  the  Coonan  house  and  the  old  mill  build- 
ing already  described,  there  were  three  other  buildings: 
Bearss,  Daniels,  and  the  building  built  by  Jones  and  my- 
self. During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1869  and  1870  the  reg- 
ular inhabitants  of  Emmetsburg  were : 

'*  Martin  Coonan  and  wife  and  five  boys,  Mart,  Will, 
Dan,  Tom  and  John. 

"T.  C.  Davis  and  wife  and  two  children. 

''E.G.  Pond. 

*'N.  D.  Bearss. 

''M.  D.  Daniels  and  wife  and  two  children. 

''Al  Jones. 

"W.  H.  Shea. 

"Geo.  B.  McCarty. 

"James  P.  White  was  county  treasurer  and  lived  on  sec- 
tion 18-95-32,  Nevada  township.  He  would  come  up  to 
town  nearly  every  day  and  when  the  weather  was  too  bad 
to  make  the  drive  he  would  stay  over  night.  In  addition  to 
these  there  were  a  number  of  other  parties  who  stayed  a 
few  weeks :  M.  E.  Griffin,  now  a  banker  at  Spencer ;  G.  R. 
Badgrow,  now  postmaster  at  Sioux  City;  Wm.  Starr  of 
Monticello,  Iowa,  and  others.  While  there  was  scarcely  a 
day  or  night  that  there  were  not  travelers  at  Coonan 's,  I 
remember  one  night  while  I  roomed  at  Coonan 's,  there 
were  48  persons  there,  and  all  had  accommodations,  such 


114  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

as  they  were.  Shelter  at  least  on  a  stormy  January  night 
meant  a  good  deal. ' '  ^ 

Mother  Coonan  was  noted  for  her  hospitality.  ' '  Bless 
her  dear,  big,  Irish  heart,"  writes  T.  W.  Harrison,  who 
stopped  there  in  those  days.  ^'  She  always  had  a  smile 
and  a  kind  word  and  a  little  joke  and  a  hearty  meal  for 
everyone  who  came  along.  I  boarded  there  for  weeks 
afterwards,  and  such  hearty  meals  and  heartily  relished 
by  everyone;  a  milk  pan  full  of  hard  fried  eggs,  boiled 
potatoes,  elegant  white  bread,  good  butter,  strong  coffee 
with  sugar  and  cream,  and  dried  apple  sauce,  was  the  bill 
of  fare  three  times  a  day  and  seven  days  in  a  week,  and 
no  one  wanted  anything  more  or  different. ' ' ' 

In  February,  1870,  T.  W.  Harrison  first  came  to  the 
frontier  town  of  Emmetsburg.  ^'  For  several  days,"  he 
says,  "I  borrowed  Jim  White's  saddle  horse  and  rode 
around  the  country  to  see  the  lay  of  the  land,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  week  I  became  satisfied  that  this  land,  which 
would  grow  natural  grasses  from  six  to  eight  feet  high 
on  the  bottom  lands  and  two  to  three  feet  high  on  the  up- 
land prairie,  must  have  a  desirable  future,  and  that  I  was 
willing  to  settle  here  and  take  my  chances  on  its  develop- 
ment. Another  inducement  was  the  fact  that  two  val- 
uable railroad  land  grants  crossed  each  other  at  or  near 
the  location  of  Emmetsburg,  and  I  reasoned  that  those 
two  railroads  must  be  built  at  some  time  and  that  there 
would  be  a  town  where  they  crossed  each  other.    So  I  an- 

1  "EecoUections  of  Early  Palo  Alto  County,"  by  Geo.  B.  McCarty.  This 
statement  from  which  quotations  are  made  from  time  to  time,  has  never 
been  published,  but  will  be  found  preserved  in  the  Semi-Centennial  Record 
Book. 

2 ' '  Fifty  Years  Ago  in  Palo  Alto  County, "  by  T.  W.  Harrison,  Des 
Moines  Begister  and  Leader,  July  8,  1906.  This  statement  was  originally 
prepared  at  my  request  and  was  considered  of  sufficient  general  interest  to 
have  same  published  at  that  time.  It  appeared  in  several  of  the  Em- 
metsburg papers  in  1906.  It  will  also  be  found  pasted  in  the  Semi-Cen- 
tennial Record  Book,  pp.  387-8. 


T.  W.  Harrison 


OF  THE 


OF 


^'FoqNlf 


THE  OLD  TOWN  115 

nounced  to  the  'Old  Settlers'  that  I  had  decided  to  lo- 
cate here.  They  asked  me  what  my  business  was.  I  said, 
'  Lawyer  and  Eeal  Estate.'  They  said,  '  Yon  will  starve 
to  death  at  that  trade. '  I  said,  *  I  will  take  my  chances 
with  the  rest  of  you, '  and  they  laughed  heartily. ' '  ^ 

Mr.  McCarty,  during  the  winter,  had  a  table  and  a  few 
books  in  one  comer  of  the  Jones  &  Johnson  store  building 
which  he  had  helped  to  build,  and  that  was  his  law  office. 
In  March  he  had  lumber  hauled  from  Fort  Dodge,  and 
built  an  office  building  14x16.  This  was  the  first  office 
building  in  the  old  town.^ 

Among  the  new  arrivals  that  spring  were  H.  L.  Bumell 
and  wife,  and  E.  J.  Hartshorn.  Harrison  formed  a  part- 
nership with  Burnell  and  they  put  up  a  small  building  and 
used  it  as  an  office  and  residence.  McCarty  and  Harts- 
horn formed  a  partnership  in  the  law  and  land  business 
about  the  same  time.  James  P.  White  and  W.  H.  Shea 
also  put  up  an  office  building.  Later  M.  L.  Brown  and  his 
brother,  P.  S.  Brown,  came  and  built  a  small  hardware 
and  agricultural  implement  building.  About  this  time 
James  Fitzgerald  and  his  wife  bought  the  small  Daniels 
house  and  opened  up  their  store.  Ketchen  and  Lenhart 
put  up  a  building  for  a  clothing  store.  That  summer  A.  D. 
Gallop  built  the  *  *  Valley  House  ' '  and  the  little  settlement 
began  to  take  on  the  airs  of  a  town. 

W.  J.  Brown  and  Alex  Peddie  were  among  the  new- 
comers in  1871  who  cast  their  destinies  with  Emmetsburg. 

In  1872  F.  H.  Roper  became  the  landlord  of  the  *'  Valley 

1  Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison. 

2  "  I  paid  $50  per  M  for  dimension  lumber,  and  for  flooring  and  siding, 
etc.,  about  $65  per  M.  When  I  got  the  lumber  home,  I  figured  up  and  found 
my  lumber  had  cost  me,  including  the  expenses  of  the  trip,  about  $120  per 
M. ' '  Statement  of  Geo.  B.  McCarty.  This  historic  old  building  was  moved 
to  the  new  town  and  stood  (on  lot  2,  block  51,  Corbin  &  Lawler's  plat) 
just  south  of  McCarty  &  McCarty 's  office  until  it  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  April,   1909. 


116  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

House  ' '  and  did  a  thriving  business,  clearing  $1,000  in  the 
first  five  months.^ 

James  Fitzgerald  was  a  genial  but  thrifty  merchant  and 
his  quaint  mannerisms  furnished  amusement  for  the  town. 
Many  are  the  stories  told  about  * '  Fitz, "  as  he  was  pop- 
ularly known.  Three  of  them  are  worth  recording.  In 
the  early  days  of  the  town  the  boys  used  to  buy  cigars,  etc., 
at  Fitz's  little  store  and  he  was  always  willing  to  give 
change  for  a  ten  dollar  bill  if  the  customer  made  a  pur- 
chase but ' '  no  buy,  no  change  ' '  was  an  inflexible  rule  of 
the  store.  W.  H.  Shea,  Jas.  P.  White  and  Al  Jones  put  up 
a  job  on  Fitz  and  began  buying  cigars,  etc.,  and  telling  him 
to  ' '  charge  them  to  McCarty. ' '  This  was  done  and  in  the 
course  of  a  week  or  so  Fitz  presented  his  bill  of  $7.40  to 
McCarty  for  payment,  whereupon  the  account  was  indig- 
nantly repudiated  as  not  of  his  making.  Fitz  mourned  as 
for  a  lost  friend  over  being  swindled  in  this  manner,  but 
quietly  bided  his  time  and  one  day  White  and  his  two 
friends  came  into  the  store  and  asked  for  some  cigars  in 
order  to  get  change  for  a  $10  bill.  Fitz  took  the  bill  and 
quietly  tucked  it  into  his  inside  pocket  and  busied  himself 
arranging  his  goods.  When  White  asked  for  the  change, 
Fitz  coolly  answered,  ''  Oh,  charge  it  to  McCarty."  On 
another  occasion  when  a  customer  came  in  to  buy  a  pocket- 
book  but  had  no  money  to  pay  for  it,  Fitz  sorrowfully  put 
the  pocket-book  back  on  the  shelf,  remarking,  ' '  You  must 
think  me  green  to  sell  you  a  pocket-book  on  tick  when 
you've  no  money  to  put  in  it."  One  day  a  lady  came  into 
his  store  and  wanted  to  buy  a  darning  needle,  for  which 
he  charged  her  five  cents  and  when  she  complained  of  the 
price,  Fitz  exclaimed,  ' '  The  freight,  the  freight,  lady.  I 
can't  sell  it  for  less,  the  freight  is  so  high. ' '  But  everyone 
liked  good  old  Jimmie  Fitzgerald  and  his  "  old  woman  " 

1  Statement  of  F.  H.  Roper. 


KEV.  J.  J.  Smith 


THE  OLD  TOWN  117 

who  together  by  thrift  acquired  enough  to  retire  from 
business  cares  and  live  in  comfort  to  a  ripe  old  age. 

At  this  time  Fort  Dodge  was  the  terminus  of  the  rail- 
road and  all  lumber  and  supplies  had  to  be  hauled  from 
there.  Joe  Mulroney  was  running  a  small  stage  from 
Fort  Dodge  to  Spirit  Lake  once  a  week  to  carry  the  mail 
and  such  passengers  as  had  no  other  conveyance.  The 
arrival  of  the  weekly  mail  was  an  important  event  and  the 
whole  town  would  turn  out  to  welcome  the  stage  on  its  ar- 
rival. In  December  of  1870  the  McGregor  &  Missouri 
Eiver  Railway  was  built  as  far  as  Algona  and  from  that 
time  on,  there  was  a  daily  mail  by  stage  from  Algona,  and 
that  place  became  the  terminus  and  the  base  of  supplies 
for  Emmetsburg  until  the  railroad  was  completed  through 
in  1878. 

The  Catholic  Church  was  the  first  church  in  the  old  town. 
It  was  erected  in  1871  through  the  efforts  of  Father  Line- 
han  of  Fort  Dodge.  Before  this  the  settlers  had  gathered 
logs  to  build  a  church,  but  a  prairie  fire  sweeping  over  the 
prairie  had  destroyed  all  the  results  of  their  hard  labor.^ 
This  new  church  was  a  large  structure  for  those  early 
days.  Father  Smith  was  the  first  pastor.  He  arrived  at 
Emmetsburg  in  December,  1871,  when  the  new  church  was 
only  partially  completed.  With  fearless  energy  and 
boundless  faith  the  young  priest  began  his  life  work  in  the 
new  field.  He  completed  the  church  and  organized  his 
parish.  There  were  only  thirty-nine  Catholic  families  in 
the  county  then,  but  his  sphere  of  activity  was  much 
broader.  His  parish  contained  eight  counties,  but  as  resi- 
dent priest  he  had  charge  not  only  of  Northwest  Iowa, 
from  Hancock  to  the  state  line  on  the  west,  but  also  all 
those  counties  lying  north  of  Humboldt,  Pocahontas, 
Buena  Vista  and  Plymouth.    In  addition  to  his  charge  in 

1  Statement  by  Father  Smith,  Semi-Centennial  Record  Book,  p.  211. 


118  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Iowa,  he  attended  to  Southwest  Minnesota  and  Eastern 
Dakota.  In  the  Iowa  territory  there  are  today  twenty- 
seven  priests,  where  the  territory  was  once  attended  by 
him  alone.  Moreover,  in  the  tireless  and  willing  discharge 
of  his  duties  on  the  wild  and  desolate  frontier  plains,  he 
ministered  to  the  needs  of  all,  and  was  the  kind  and  cheery 
friend  and  adviser  of  all  the  settlers,  regardless  of  church 
or  creed.  Father  Smith  is  still  in  active  charge  of  his 
large  and  influential  church  at  Emmet sburg,  which  has 
grown  from  the  small  beginnings  so  auspiciously  started 
many  years  ago.  No  service  that  he  has  ever  rendered 
during  his  long  and  devoted  life  has  reaped  such  abundant 
fruit  as  those  years  of  untiring  devotion  to  the  pioneers 
on  the  Iowa  prairie.^ 

In  the  winter  of  1871-2  the  scattered  Protestant  families 
organized  a  Union  Church,  John  L.  Lang  being  the  leading 
spirit,  and  Rev.  B.  C  Hammond,  who  lived  on  a  homestead 
five  or  six  miles  northeast  of  town,  preached  for  them. 
**  This  Union  Church  was  afterwards  duly  incorporated 
and  was  the  forerunner  of  the  present  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Emmetsburg.  A  Union  Sunday  School 
was  also  organized  by  Mr.  Lang  and  conducted  by  him  in 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1872.  In  August,  1872,  that 
Little  Giant  of  Methodism,  Col.  E.  S.  Ormsby,  located  in 
the  old  town  and  it  did  not  take  him  long  to  gather  to- 
gether that  remnant  of  the  tribe  of  Israel  known  as  Meth- 
odists and  organize  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and 

1  Very  Kev.  J.  J.  Smith  was  ordained  a  priest  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  June 
26,  1870.  After  coming  to  Dubuque  on  August  30,  1870,  he  was  assistant 
priest  at  the  cathedral  for  three  months.  He  was  then  appointed  pastor  at 
Cflermont,  Fayette  County,  from  whence  he  was  removed  to  Emmetsburg  in 
December,  1871.  A  very  excellent  comparison  of  those  early  days  with  the 
present,  written  by  Father  Smith,  will  be  found  in  the  Semi-Centennial 
Record  Book,  p.  211.  See  also  sketch  of  his  life  and  work  in  the  Palo  Alto 
Tribune. 


Alex.  Peddie 


M.  F.  Kerwick 


THE  OLD  TOWN  119 

Sunday  School  which  have  both  been  flourishing  ever 
since. ' '  ^ 

Others  began  to  locate  in  the  town  that  was  already  as- 
suming considerable  importance  as  a  trading  center. 
There  were  over  1,000  settlers  in  the  county  and  Emmets- 
burg  was  the  only  town  and  trading  point  this  side  of  Al- 
gona  and  Fort  Dodge.  T.  H.  Tobin,  Pat  Joyce,  and  John 
Hall  started  stores.  E.  S.  Ormsby  established  the  first 
bank  in  1872  under  the  name  of  Bumham,  Ormsby  &  Co., 
capital  $10,000.    M.  F.  Kerwick  also  came  in  1872. 

The  town  had  grown  so  naturally  along  the  Coonan  road, 
that  no  plat  had  been  made  at  first  and  the  buildings  had 
been  located  in  Coonan 's  com  field  or  pasture  at  the  whim 
of  the  newcomer,  but  in  the  summer  of  1870  Mr.  Coonan 
had  some  blocks  and  lots  surveyed  out  and  later  had  the 
plat  recorded  as  ' '  Emmetsburg. ' '  ^ 

The  Democrat,  published  by  Jas.  P.  White,  at  Soda  Bar, 
and  the  Advance,  published  by  McCarty  &  Hartshorn  and 
Harrison  &  Burnell,  were  the  rival  papers  that  flourished 
throughout  the  exciting  campaign  of  1870.  But  when 
White  lost  the  treasurership  at  that  election  his  paper 
soon  after  went  out  of  business  and  the  Advance  sold  out 
to  Bates  &  Hagedon,  who  discontinued  the  old  name  and 
started  the  Palo  Alto  Patriot  in  June,  1873.^  After  a  year 
the  Patriot  sold  out  to  the  Palo  Alto  Printing  Company, 
who  dropped  the  old  title  and  began  the  Palo  Alto  Pilot. 
The  first  issue  was  June  11,  1874,  and  was  printed  in  the 

1 ' '  Fifty  Years  Ago  in  Palo  Alto  County, "  by  T.  W.  Harrison,  Ee^ister 
and  Leader,  July  8,  1906. 

2  May  24,  1871,  recorder's  office,  Palo  Alto  County. 

3  The  most  careful  search  and  extended  inquiry  have  failed  to  find  a  single 
copy  of  either  the  Democrat  or  Advance,  and  it  is  believed  that  time  and 
inattention  have  destroyed  these  valuable  historical  records.  One  copy  of 
the  Patriot  was  once  discovered  among  some  old  papers  at  Algona.  It  was  dat- 
ed June,  1874,  and  marked  in  pencil,  ' '  the  last  copy  of  the  Patriot, ' '  and  con- 
tained a  notice  of  the  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Bates  &  Hagedon,  the  pub- 
ishers.    But  even  this  copy  is  now  lost. 


120  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

Old  Town/  J.  C.  Bennett,  who  worked  on  this  paper, 
says :  ' '  When  I  first  came  in  contact  with  it  in  July,  1873, 
it  was  a  pretty  badly  mixed  up  outfit.  It  had  evidently 
been  stored  in  someone's  barn  at  some  time.  The  first  ink 
we  had  to  work  with  was  about  half  straw.  The  first 
court  calendar  printed  for  use  in  the  county  was  printed 
in  the  Pilot  office  in  the  early  part  of  the  winter  of  1873. 
I  have  a  copy  of  that  somewhere.  The  Pilot  office  in  the 
Old  Town  was  located  in  the  building  that  is  now  occupied 
by  McCrum  as  a  shoe  store.  It  was  made  of  nothing  but 
siding  and  thin  ceiling.  The  only  press  was  an  old  worn- 
out  hand  press.  Had  to  print  the  calendar  on  the  old 
hand  press  in  freezing  weather,  and  it  was  pretty  hard  to 
do  anything.  .  .  The  Pilot  was  edited  by  different  par- 
ties, first  by  J.  L.  Martin,  then  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Rowen,  who 
was  the  Methodist  preacher  here.  A.  W.  Utter  was  next 
editor.   I  was  with  it  from  the  fall  of  1874  to  June,  1876. ' ' " 

In  1871-2  several  houses  were  built  on  the  hill  a  mile 
east  of  the  Old  Town.  T.  W.  Harrison  built  his  house  in 
the  spring  of  1871  (the  one  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Appleby), 
John  L.  Lang  in  the  fall  of  1871,  and  Captain  Hartshorn 
and  E.  J.  White  built  theirs  in  the  spring  of  1872.  ' '  These 
houses  ^  were  half  way  between  the  Old  Town  and  the  loca- 
tion where  the  new  town  was  expected  to  be  laid  out. 
They  were  the  first  houses  on  the  present  town  site  of  Em- 
metsburg  as  they  are  now  in  the  northwest  part  of  our 
present  city." 

''That  (1872)  was  the  summer  of  brides  for  the  new 
town.  Mrs.  T.  W.  Harrison,  Mrs.  Emory  King,  Mrs.  Al 
Jones,  Mrs.  Ben  Johnson,  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Ormsby,  all  came 
as  brides.    Some  of  them  were  disappointed  at  not  finding 

1  Odd  numbers  of  the  Pilot  have  been  found,  and  J.  C.  Bennett  has  pre- 
served a  file,  beginning  with  no.  20  of  vol.  i,  Oct.  22,  1874,  to  no.  47  of 
vol,  ii.  May  11,  1876. 

2  Statement  of  J.  C.  Bennett. 

3  Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison.     Letter  of  Capt.  E.  J,  Hartshorn. 


W.  J.  Brown 


M.  L.  Brown 


..       or  THE 

^iviVERsrry 

OF 


THE  OLD  TOWN  121 

a  larger  town  in  fact,  as  they  had  read  glowing  descrip- 
tions of  it  in  the  numerous  letters  from  their  lovers  for  a 
year  or  more  before.  But  they  made  a  happy  addition  to 
the  new  town  society,  and  were  each  in  turn  vigorously, 
if  not  delightfully,  serenaded  by  Duncan's  Band."^ 

' '  Among  the  old  settlers  who  lived  in  the  vicinity  were 
'  Paddy  in  the  Bush '  (Patrick  Nolan,  who  lived  in  the 
woods  north  of  town) ;  *  Paddy  on  the  Flat '  (Patrick  No- 
lan, who  lived  on  the  river  bottom  south  of  town) ; '  Paddy 
Green '  (Patrick  Nolan,  who  lived  on  the  west  shore  of 
Medium  Lake) ;  Mrs.  Laughlin,  the  character  of  the  com- 
munity, who  lived  south  of  town,  always  full  of  her  jokes 
and  witticisms ;  Dan  Kane,  who  lived  in  the  woods  north 
of  town ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  Coonan,  Sr.,  who  kept  the 
only  boarding  house  in  or  about  the  town ;  John  Pender- 
gast,  who  lived  near  the  lake  where  Mr.  Saunders's  man- 
sion now  stands ;  John  Nolan,  who  lived  on  the  west  side 
of  the  lake;  William  O'Connell,  who  lived  west  of  the 
river ;  Wm.  E.  Cullen,  William  Murphy,  and  Charles  Hast- 
ings, who  lived  south  of  town ;  James  Hickey,  Larry  Burns 
and  Pat  Lannon,  who  lived  west  of  the  river  and  south 
of  town;  James  Nolan,  Martin  Laughlin,  Lott  Laughlin, 
Jerry  Crowley,  Miles  Mahan,  Ed  Mahan,  Billy  Jackman, 
and  Patsy  Jackman,  at  Walnut ;  Mickey  Jackman  on  the 
east  side  of  the  lake ;  T.  H.  Tobin,  William  Shea,  Thomas 
Shea,  Robert  Shea,  Joe  Mulroney,  Kiren  Mulroney,  Will- 
iam Mahar,  and  others  at  Soda  Bar  in  Nevada  township ; 
Michael  Kirby,  John  Doran,  Dan  Doran,  and  others,  west 
of  the  river  in  Great  Oak  township;  John  Neary  and 
Thomas  Welch,  east  of  the  river,  and  some  others  whose 
names  I  do  not  now  recall. ' '  - 

Other  people  located  in  the  town  from  time  to  time,  until 
in  1874  there  were  forty  or  more  business  buildings  and 

1  T.  W.  Harrison 's  statement. 

2  Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison. 


122  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

houses.  But  all  the  buildings  along  the  Coonan  road  were 
small  and  cheaply  constructed,  as  it  was  realized  that  the 
railroad  company  would  locate  a  depot  on  its  own  ground 
and  that  those  on  the  Coonan  plat  would  have  to  move  or 
there  would  be  two  towns  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other. 
It  was  in  the  summer  of  1874  that  the  Old  Town  reached 
the  acme  of  its  existence,  for  in  a  few  short  months  it  dis- 
appeared like  the  mist  before  the  morning  sun  and  the 
new  and  fairer  city  on  the  hill  took  its  place  in  history. 


Pat  Joyce 


The  New  Town  of  Emmetsburg  in  1878 


CHAPTEE  XII 

The  New  Emmetshurg 

With  all  its  sudden  growth  and  outward  prosperity,  the 
old  town  of  Emmetshurg  on  the  river  was  but  transitory. 
The  buildings  were  all  rough,  temporary  structures,  or 
built  on  posts,  as  it  was  expected  that  the  railway  would 
plat  a  town  elsewhere,  and  that  the  town  would  have  to  be 
moved  some  time.  Mr.  Coonan  did  not  take  the  trouble  to 
convey  lots  or  plat  the  town  for  several  years.  Moreover, 
the  location  which  chance  had  selected  was  not  at  all  suit- 
able for  a  permanent  town. 

This  unsettled  condition  produced  a  spirit  of  uneasiness 
among  the  people  that  grew  stronger  as  the  railroad  com- 
pany in  1873  began  to  build  from  Algona  westward.  Even 
when  railroad  operations  suddenly  ceased,  the  dissatisfac- 
tion with  local  conditions  grew  until  in  1874,  when  the 
agitation  for  a  change  began  to  take  definite  form. 

Gen.  John  Lawler  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis.,  who  was  an 
officer  of  the  railroad  company,  had  bought  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  25-96-33  for  the  purpose  of  a  town  site 
•and  the  railroad  had  been  surveyed  through  that  tract. 
Austin  Corbin  of  New  York  City  owned  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  30-96-32,  adjoining  the  Lawler  quarter 
on  the  east,  and  was  anxious  to  get  in  on  the  town  site 
proposition.  T.  W.  Harrison  was  the  attorney  for  Mr. 
Lawler  and  the  railroad,  and  Geo.  B.  McCarty  was  the  at- 
torney for  Mr.  Corbin.  Mr.  McCarty  thus  describes  the 
negotiations:  '*  Mr.  Corbin  gave  me  special  authority  to 
act  for  him  and  to  visit  the  officers  of  the  railroad  company 
with  a  view  to  making  arrangements  looking  to  the  loca- 


124  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

tion  of  a  depot  and  town  site.  In  July  I  went  to  Prairie  dn 
Chien  and  saw  Gen.  John  Lawler,  who  promised  to  meet 
me  in  Milwaukee  next  day.  I  then  went  to  MilwanJ^ee  and 
saw  S.  S.  Merrill,  general  manager,  and  Alex  Mitchell, 
president  of  the  railroad,  and  had  several  hours'  session 
with  Lawler,  Merrill  and  Mitchell,  and  an  agreement  was 
then  reached  that  the  railroad  company  was  to  proceed  at 
once  in  connection  with  Austin  Corbin  and  plat  the  north- 
east quarter  25-96-33  and  the  northwest  quarter  30-96-32 
into  a  town  site  and  town  lots ;  that  the  township  line  be- 
tween said  quarters  should  be  the  principal  street  and  that 
the  depot  should  be  located  within  200  feet  of  said  line  and 
that  a  court  house  square  be  platted  on  the  highest  point 
east  of  said  line  and  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the  county  for 
court  house  purposes,  provided  the  county  took  steps  to 
locate  the  county  seat  there  within  a  reasonable  time. 
That  a  public  park  of  not  to  exceed  a  square  of  four  blocks 
should  be  located  on  the  high  ground  near  the  northeast 
comer  of  the  northeast  quarter  25-96-33  and  dedicated  to 
the  use  of  the  town  as  a  public  park.  That  they  were  to 
proceed  at  once  to  plat  out  the  town  site  and  when  so  plat- 
ted that  part  of  the  site  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  30-96- 
32  should  be  equally  divided  between  Austin  Corbin  and 
John  Lawler,  that  is  each  alternate  lot  or  block  as  the 
agents  of  the  respective  parties  should  agree. 

' '  It  was  further  agreed  that  before  said  division  was 
made  each  person  who  owned  a  lot  in  the  Coonan  plat  with 
a  business  or  dwelling  building  thereon  and  would  move 
his  building  to  the  Corbin  and  Lawler  site  before  Decem- 
ber 1,  1874,  should  have  a  lot  donated  to  him  upon  which 
to  locate  his  building,  and  other  persons  who  would  build 
and  erect  a  good,  substantial,  new  business  building  or 
residence  on  said  plat  on  or  before  December  1,  1874, 
should  have  a  lot  donated  to  them,  in  consideration  of  their 


THE  NEW  EMMETSBURG  125 

moving  or  erecting  buildings.  It  was  provided  that  no 
two  persons  should  be  located  on  adjacent  lots.  There 
must  be  at  least  one  intervening  lot  between.  That  after 
locations  were  made  deeds  should  be  made  to  said  parties 
and  remaining  lots  divided.  It  was  also  stipulated  on  the 
part  of  the  railroad  company  that  this  agreement  was  to 
be  subject  to  the  approval  of  Gen.  Dodge,  chief  engineer 
of  the  company,  and  that  before  said  town  was  so  laid  out 
and  platted  Gen.  Dodge  should  designate  on  the  ground 
what  land  was  required  by  the  railroad  company  for  right 
of  way  and  depot  grounds  and  Gen.  Dodge  should  definite- 
ly locate  the  right  of  way,  tracks,  and  depot  site  and  that 
when  the  road  was  constructed  to  Emmetsburg  the  rail- 
road company  contracted  to  erect  their  depot  on  said  site 
so  selected  and  make  it  their  permanent  depot  site.  I  then 
went  to  Madison,  Wis.,  and  saw  General  Dodge  and  he  ap- 
proved of  the  agreement  and  agreed  that  he  would  have 
the  plat  of  depot  grounds  and  site  ready  within  ten  days, 
or  as  soon  as  he  could  take  some  additional  measurements, 
etc.  It  was  also  agreed  that  I  was  to  act  as  the  agent  for 
Austin  Corbin,  and  T.  W.  Harrison  was  to  act  as  agent 
for  the  railroad  company,  and  we  were  to  proceed  to  sur- 
vey and  plat  the  town  as  soon  as  possible. ' '  ^ 

By  this  compromise  a  town  site  war  was  avoided,  and 
the  original  plat  was  called  Corbin  &  Lawler's  Plat  of 
Emmetsburg  and  is  so  known  to  this  day.  This  division 
also  secured  for  the  county-seat  the  beautiful  court  house 
square,  and  the  spacious  public  park  in  the  west  part  of 
town.  The  Corbin  quarter  in  Freedom  township  had  or- 
iginally been  homesteaded  by  Thomas  Mahar  in  the  early 
sixties.    His  cabin  stood  at  the  southeast  comer  of  the 

1  Statement  of  Geo.  B.  McCarty.  These  recollections  of  early  days  by 
Mr.  McCarty  have  never  been  published,  but  a  copy  of  them  may  be  found 
in  the  Semi-Centennial  Record  Book. 


126  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

court  house  square  and  only  a  few  years  ago  a  slight  de- 
pression there  plainly  marked  the  place  of  his  cellar. 
Mr.  Mahar  abandoned  his  claim  soon  after  taking  it. 

While  these  preliminaries  were  being  arranged,  T.  W. 
Harrison  was  busy  preparing  for  the  removal  of  the  Old 
Town  to  the  new  location.  Mr.  Harrison  describes  these 
events  as  follows :  * '  One  morning  in  June,  1874,  when  I 
went  to  my  office,  I  found  a  delegation  of  the  business  men 
waiting  for  me.  They  said  that  a  meeting  of  the  business 
men  was  being  held  in  one  of  the  stores  and  they  wanted 
me  to  come  over  to  it.  I  was  then  the  attorney  and  agent 
for  the  railroad  company,  and  they  wanted  to  know  if  I 
thought  the  railroad  company  would  plat  out  the  railroad 
town  site  and  give  them  a  lot  for  each  building  they  would 
move  over  if  they  would  move  at  once,  as  the  risk  from  fire 
was  too  great  where  they  were,  and  their  stocks  of  goods 
were  getting  too  large  to  carry  without  insurance,  and  they 
wanted  to  get  on  permanent  lots  and  enlarge  their  build- 
ings. I  told  them  I  thought  the  company  would  do  that, 
but  that  the  company  would  want  some  guarantee  that 
they  would  move  in  case  the  railroad  town  site  was  platted. 
They  told  me  to  draw  up  any  kind  of  an  agreement  and 
bond  I  desired,  and  they  would  sign  it.  I  prepared  an 
agreement  and  bond  with  a  forfeiture  of  $500  each  in  case 
they  did  not  move  as  soon  as  the  lots  were  ready  for  them, 
and  they  all  signed  it,  fifteen  of  the  leading  business  men 
of  the  Old  Town.  I  took  the  agreement  and  bond  to  John 
Lawler,  the  vice-president  of  the  railroad  company  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis.,  and  he  said,  *  Yes,  the  company 
will  do  that,'  but  that  he  would  have  to  submit  it  to  the 
directors  in  New  York  City.  He  said  it  would  take  about 
a  week  for  him  to  get  an  answer  and  for  me  to  return 
home  and  hold  myself  in  readiness  upon  receipt  of  a  tele- 


THE  NEW  EMMETSBURG  127 

gram  from  him,  to  go  ahead  then  and  plat  the  railroad 
town  site. ' '  ^ 

When  at  last  the  telegram  was  received  stating  that  the 
negotiations  had  been  approved,  Mr.  McCarty  and  Mr. 
Harrison  hired  Le  Eoy  Grout  to  do  the  surveying  and  be- 
gan to  plat  and  lay  out  the  new  town.'' 

'*  The  grass  was  tall,  in  many  places  up  to  our  hips,  and 
in  some  places  as  high  as  our  heads.  Not  a  tree  nor  a 
shrub  in  sight  —  just  prairie.  We  got  a  team  and  mower 
and  set  flags  and  would  mow  two  swaths  through  so  we 
could  see  to  set  and  line  up  the  stakes.  When  the  survey 
was  well  along  the  question  of  moving  came  up.  In  the 
meantime  dissensions  had  arisen.  Coonan  had  become 
awake  and  was  offering  special  inducements  for  them  to 
stay  and  others  got  discouraged  at  the  thought  of  moving 
out  on  the  prairie  and  locating  their  buildings  in  the  tall 
grass,  without  a  furrow  broken,  no  roads  or  paths.  In 
fact  it  did  not  look  very  inviting.  About  this  time  some  of 
the  dissenters  held  a  meeting  and  resolved  they  would  not 
move  and  about  one-half  of  them  agreed  to  this.  Then  the 
question  came  up  and  was  discussed  pro  and  con  for  three 
or  four  days. ' '  ^ 

Martin  Coonan  told  them  that  a  hard  winter  was  coming 
on  and  that  they  would  freeze  and  starve  out  in  ' '  Stake- 

1  T.  W.  Harrison,  ' '  Fifty  Years  Ago  in  Palo  Alto  County, ' '  Begister  and 
Leader,  July  8,  1906. 

2  This  account  of  the  beginning  of  the  new  town  is  taken  mainly  from 
the  statements  of  T.  W.  Harrison  and  Geo.  B.  McCarty,  the  two  principal 
actors  in  thig  drama.  As  here  given  it  is  reenforced  by  the  recollections 
of  M.  L.  Brown,  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  Alex.  Peddie,  J.  C.  Bennett,  and  others. 
Mr.  Harrison's  statement,  as  it  appeared  in  1906,  contained  some  inac- 
curacies which  he  would  doubtless  have  corrected  if  a  later  revision  had 
been  made  after  talking  with  others  and  refreshing  his  memory.  The  ac- 
count presented  in  these  pages  has  been  carefully  verified  and  is  believed 
to  be  an  accurate  history  of  this  interesting  period.  See  early  files  of  the 
Pilot  for  the  life  of  the  new  town.  See  also  Appendix  D  for  sample 
items. 

3  Geo.  B.  McCarty 's  statement. 


128  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

town  "  as  he  called  it ;  that  they  had  better  stay  right 
where  they  were  and  he  would  give  them  all  the  lots  they 
wanted.  These  were  potent  arguments,  and  the  business 
men  became  exceedingly  lukewarm  on  the  subject  of  mov- 
ing. I  had  procured  a  house  moving  outfit  to  come  here 
from  Humboldt  with  their  teams  and  tools,  all  ready  to  do 
the  moving.  The  business  men  dreaded  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  moving.  The  house  movers  were  clamoring  to 
commence  their  work,  and  one  day  while  I  was  out  of  town 
they  loaded  up  my  office,  moved  it  out  and  dropped  it  on 
the  corner  where  the  Waverly  Hotel  now  stands,  and  it 
stood  there  a  lone  speck  on  the  prairie  for  two  or  three 
weeks.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  bond  the  business  men 
would  have  been  strongly  inclined  to  remain  where  they 
were.  But  I  assured  them  with  great  earnestness  that  the 
company  would  collect  that  bond  from  every  one  of  them. 
Finally  we  got  the  four  leading  merchants  together  in  a 
room,  and  handed  them  the  plat  of  the  new  town  and  said 
that  we  would  give  them  their  choice  of  comers  and  give 
each  of  them  two  lots  on  a  corner  if  they  would  move  over 
at  once,  and  wherever  they  located  would  center  the  busi- 
ness of  the  town,  and  be  the  most  valuable  property  in 
town.  They  said  that  was  fair,  and  that  they  would  do 
it."^ 

It  was  on  September  2,  1874,  that  the  Harrison  office 
was  moved  up  to  the  new  site  and  as  the  first  lone  building 
on  the  prairie,  marked  the  beginning  of  the  prospective 
town.  The  second  building  moved  up  was  the  McCarty 
office  building,  occupied  by  McCarty  &  Hartshorn,  which 
was  located  on  lot  2,  block  51,  where  it  stood  just  south  of 
the  present  McCarty  &  McCarty  law  office  until  burned  in 
April  of  1909.  The  third  building  moved  was  the  White 
&  Shea  office,  which  was  moved  over  to  the  opposite  side  of 

1  Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison. 


Mi 


THE  NEW  EMMETSBURG  129 

the  street,  to  lot  1,  block  52,  where  Berger's  store  is  now 
located.    The  fourth  was  Tobin  &  Co.'s  general  store. 

*'  Early  the  next  morning,"  says  T.  W.  Harrison,  *'  the 
movers  loaded  the  Tobin  store  building  on  their  trucks, 
and  started  for  the  new  town,  while  all  the  people  looked 
on  and  wondered.  The  building  was  not  large,  but  it  took 
several  days  to  move  it  to  the  new  site,  and  Mr.  Tobin  was 
selling  goods  out  of  the  back  door  all  along  the  way.  He 
was  so  well  known  and  so  universally  liked,  and  the  nov- 
elty of  the  situation  gave  him  such  an  advertisement  that 
a  large  crowd  of  customers  followed  him  to  the  new  town, 
and  his  business  was  larger  than  it  had  ever  been  before, 
so  much  so  that  he  said  he  wished  that  the  other  merchants 
would  not  move,  but  leave  the  new  town  trade  to  him  and 
he  would  be  perfectly  satisfied."^  This  building  was 
placed  on  the  corner  where  the  Tobin  Block  is  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Farmers'  Savings  Bank,  The  fifth  was  the 
Ketchen  &  Lenhart  clothing  store,  which  was  moved  to 
lot  1,  block  37,  the  corner  where  the  Emmetsburg  National 
Bank  now  stands. 

'  *  Then  came  a  halt, ' '  says  Geo.  B.  McCarty  in  describing 
the  events.  '*  No  one  would  make  a  start.  Those  who  had 
moved  up  cut  the  grass  and  set  out  a  few  hitching  posts 
and  were  ready  for  business.  Several  days  were  spent  in 
trying  to  get  others  to  move  but  without  avail.  About 
this  time  T.  C.  Davis,  who  was  the  postmaster,  said  that 
he  would  put  up  a  building  if  they  would  give  him  a  lot. 
He  selected  lot  6,  block  37,  and  began  his  building.  In  the 
meantime  we  had  forwarded  a  petition  to  Washington  to 
have  permission  to  move  the  postoffice,  but  red  tape  and 
remonstrance  held  it  up  for  some  time.  In  the  meantime 
two  or  three  small  dwellings  had  been  moved  up.  Then 
Ormsbys  agreed  to  have  their  bank  building  and  E.  S. 
Ormsby's  house  moved.     P.  Joyce  and  Jas.  Fitzgerald, 

1  statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison. 


130  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

each  having  a  general  store,  refused  to  move,  and  the 
others  joined  with  them,  John  D.  Hall  saying  that  he 
would  move  if  the  others  would  agree  to.  Finally  a  meet- 
ing was  held  at  which  there  were  those  who  had  moved 
and  those  favorable,  which  lasted  until  near  midnight  to 
devise  ways  and  means  to  break  the  deadlock.  The  mov- 
ers '  outfit  was  idle  and  on  expense  and  they  threatened  to 
leave.  It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  parties  present 
would  pay  the  movers  when  not  at  work  for  the  next  week 
and  appeal  to  the  people  of  the  county.  A  painter  by  the 
name  of  Walt  Duncan  was  put  to  work  painting  boards  — 
'Staketown  or  bust,'  Staketown  being  the  name  given 
to  the  new  town  by  those  opposed,  'On  to  Staketown,' 
'Staketown  only  station  on  this  line,'  'Staketown  will 
pay  more  for  farm  products  and  sell  goods  cheaper.' 
These  were  nailed  on  to  stakes  and  set  up  on  all  roads, 
nailed  to  bridges,  etc.,  and  men  were  sent  out  and  sta- 
tioned on  all  roads  to  appeal  to  the  farmers  to  stand  by  us 
and  aid  us  in  having  one  good  town  and  the  county- seat 
located  there  without  a  county-seat  war ;  that  the  location 
was  a  central  one  and  that  the  railroad  would  build  their 
depot  there  under  their  contract,  etc.  Whereas  on  the 
other  hand  it  would  be  two  small  towns  within  one  and 
one-half  miles  of  each  other,  always  scrapping  and  fight- 
ing, a  county-seat  war,  postoflfice  fight,  etc.,  which  argu- 
ments seemed  to  take  well  with  the  farmers  (Emmetsburg 
was  the  only  town  in  the  county  at  that  time,  no  other  trad- 
ing or  business  place).  Many  of  them  permitted  signs  to 
be  put  on  their  wagons  or  chalked,  'Staketown  or  bust,' 
and  would  drive  straight  through  the  Old  Town  to  '  Stake- 
town.'  It  was  a  winning  card  and  turned  the  tide  of 
events.  The  Tobin  store  had  to  get  extra  clerks  and  one 
Saturday  took  in  $153  in  cash  and  over  $200  worth  of 
farm  products.  Had  to  saw  2x4  lumber  and  set  them  in 
the  ground  to  hitch  teams  to.    While  the  Old  Town  had  a 


THE  NEW  EMMETSBURG  131 

quietude  settle  over  it.  Within  a  week  they  gave  in  and 
even  offered  a  high  bonus  to  be  moved  first/  So  that  by 
December  1st,  the  Old  Town  had  moved  up,  and  the  new 
town  loomed  up  on  its  hill  and  could  be  seen  from  almost 
any  part  of  the  county,  with  not  a  tree  or  shrub  to  hide 
iV 

'  *  Miss  Mary  McGroarty,  sister  of  Mrs.  A.  L.  Ormsby, 
was  a  musician  and  musical  composer,  and  she  wrote  a 
new  march  which  she  called  *  The  March  of  Emmetsburg, ' 
as  she  witnessed  the  flight  of  the  town  from  the  old  to  the 
new  site. ' ' ' 

The  new  town  of  Emmetsburg,  after  many  vicissitudes, 
had  at  last  become  a  reality.  Later  generations  owe  a 
debt  of  gratitude  to  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  the  men 
of  1874  who  gave  us  a  central,  well  located,  beautiful 
county-seat,  with  ample  room  for  broad  growth  and  ad- 
vancement as  time  goes  by. 

One  opportunity,  however,  appears  to  have  slipped  by. 
Mr.  Harrison  says :  **  I  had  planned  at  the  time  to  change 
the  name  of  the  new  town  to  '  Merrill,'  the  name  of  the 
general  manager  and  most  potent  factor  in  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad.  I  had  Mr.  Merrill  in  my 
office  in  the  spring  of  1875  and  submitted  the  matter  to 
him,  and  it  pleased  him  greatly.  He  said :  '  That  means 
spending  $20,000  to  help  make  the  town  grow. '  I  replied 
that  *  I  hoped  so. '  I  discussed  that  matter  with  the  busi- 
ness men  of  the  town,  and  some  of  them  objected  so  vig- 
orously because  they  said  they  had  advertised  Emmets- 
burg so  extensively  that  it  would  hurt  their  business  to 
make  any  change  in  the  name,  that  I  finally  dropped  the 

1 "  p.  Joyce  is  waiting  anxiously  for  his  store  building,  which  is  out 
running  a  race  with  that  of  Jas.  Fitzgerald  from  the  old  town  to  the  new. 
At  present  Fitz  is  a  few  yards  ahead."  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  Oct.  22,  1874, 
vol.  i,  no.  20. 

2  Statement  of  Geo.   B.   McCarty. 

3  Statement  of   T.   W.   Harrison. 


132  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

subject.  But  if  that  had  been  done  the  city  would  now 
have  10,000  or  more  population.  I  learned  afterward  that 
Mr.  Merrill  built  the  Estherville  Branch  with  the  idea  that 
the  name  would  be  so  changed,  and  it  was  his  plan  to  com- 
plete it  through  to  Fargo,  North  Dakota,  and  make  this 
city  the  division  point  for  that  line,  with  its  offices,  round- 
house and  shops  at  this  place.  The  original  railroad  name 
for  this  station  was  '  Sage, '  in  honor  of  Russell  Sage,  who 
was  a  stockholder  and  director  in  the  company,  but  as 
Mr.  Merrill  then  had  no  town  named  for  him  in  Iowa,  it 
would  have  pleased  him  greatly  to  have  this  town  given 
his  name,  and  he  would  have  made  it  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant points  on  the  whole  Iowa  and  Dakota  division. ' '  ^ 

Yet  the  citizens  were  progressive  and  hard  working  and 
the  town  grew  rapidly.  Mr.  Harrison  thus  describes  the 
selling  of  the  lots  in  the  new  town :  "I  made  up  the  sched- 
ule of  prices  for  selling  the  lots  in  the  new  town,  placing 
the  best  residence  lots  at  $25  each,  and  the  best  business 
lots  at  $250  each,  and  submitted  it  to  the  land  commission- 
er of  the  railroad  company.  He  said,  '  Oh,  no !  you  have 
the  prices  too  high.  Put  the  best  business  lots  at  $50  each, 
and  the  best  residence  lots  at  $25  each.  We  want  that 
town  to  grow  so  as  to  make  business  for  our  road  when  we 
build  over  there.'  I  said, '  All  right,  you  are  the  boss,  but 
I  would  take  them  all  if  I  had  the  money,  for  the  best  lots 
will  soon  be  worth  $1,000  each.'  The  lots  sold  fast,  and 
the  town  grew  rapidly  and  lots  which  were  then  sold  for 
$50  each,  are  now  worth  from  $3,000  to  $4,000  each."  =^ 

In  the  spring  of  1875  the  first  sod  was  turned  for  the 
planting  of  trees  and  gardens.  The  trees  around  the 
court  house  square  were  planted  by  the  citizens  them- 
selves, each  planting  a  tree  and  caring  for  it  as  it  grew. 
Thus  early  was  the  practice  of  planting  trees  encouraged, 

1  Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison. 

2  Statement  of  T.  W.  Harrison, 


E.  S.  Ormsby 


THE  NEW  EMMETSBURG  133 

and  to  the  far-seeing  policy  thus  begun,  we  owe  the  chief 
beauty  of  our  city  that  is  known  far  and  wide  as  the 
' '  Shade  Tree  City  ' '  of  Northwestern  Iowa. 

In  this  first  spring  after  the  Old  Town  was  moved  to  its 
new  location,  E.  S.  Ormsby  who  had  moved  his  building  to 
the  location  where  the  First  National  Bank  now  stands, 
and  controlled  the  land  north  of  Main  street,  which  is  now 
known  as  Burnham's  addition,  broke  up  a  large  tract  of 
this  and  planted  it  to  wheat,  and  that  summer  after  the 
wheat  was  cut  people  began  to  build  their  houses  there 
and  it  was  a  very  peculiar  sight  to  see  the  houses  dotting 
the  stubble  fields/ 

In  the  fall  of  1875  by  almost  unanimous  vote  the  county- 
seat  of  the  county  was  changed  from  the  mythical ' '  Paoli" 
to  the  beautiful  square  donated  and  designated  on  the  plat 
of  Emmetsburg  as  * '  Court  House  Square. "  ^  In  1876 
A.  L.  Ormsby  built  his  brick  residence  on  the  hill,  the  first 
brick  building  in  new  Emmetsburg.  The  town  was  incor- 
porated in  1877,  M.  L.  Brown  being  the  first  mayor. 

Emmetsburg  continued  to  grow  and  prosper  as  settlers 
became  more  numerous  throughout  the  county.  The  pros- 
pect of  the  railroad  also  attracted  people,  but  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  did  not  complete  its  road 
through  to  Emmetsburg  until  August,  1878.  The  B.,  C.  R. 
&  N.  Ry.,  now  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific,  was 
built  to  Emmetsburg  in  1882.  With  these  two  railroads, 
the  town  became  a  city  and  prosperity  smiled  upon  it. 

In  1880  the  brick  court  house  was  built.  It  was  a  large 
and  substantial  building  for  those  times  and  still  stands 
as  a  worthy  public  building  for  a  prosperous  county.  In 
the  same  year,  T.  H.  Tobin  built  the  first  brick  store  build- 
ing in  the  town.  The  First  National  Bank  Building  and 
Waverly  Hotel  were  built  in  1882.    Other  substantial 

1  Statement  of  J.  C.  Young. 

2  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Kecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  pp.  413  and 
424. 


134  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

buildings  followed  ^  until  now  Emmetsburg  with  its  3,000 
inhabitants,  six  elegant  churches,  and  its  splendid  schools, 
many  substantial  business  buildings,  with  elegant  resi- 
dences, unsurpassed  by  any  town  in  Iowa  —  stands  a  monu- 
ment to  its  founders  and  builders,  as  well  as  the  worthy 
county-seat  of  the  great  and  prosperous  county  of  Palo 
Alto. 


1  Many  facts  about  the  later  history  of  the  city  will  be  found  in  the 
Christmas  Souvenir  edition  of  the  Emmetshurg  Democrat,  1895.  The  files 
of  the  Palo  Alto  Reporter,  Emmetsburg  Democrat,  and  Palo  Alto  Tribune, 
are  replete  with  contemporaneous  history  of  the  city,  but  full  narration  of 
those  events  would  fill  another  volume  and  must  be  left  for  some  future 
historian. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Period  of  Development  — 1873-1910 

The  year  1873  was  one  long  to  be  remembered.  It  ush- 
ered in  the  years  of  adversity,  that  tried  the  stoutest  heart. 
The  hard  times,  the  grasshoppers  and  the  wet  seasons, 
together  made  a  combination  that  threatened  bankruptcy 
for  even  the  most  industrious.  These  years  of  toil  and 
sorrow  are  a  sad  but  necessary  part  of  the  county's  his- 
tory. 

The  grasshoppers  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  paid 
a  visit  to  Iowa  and  adjacent  states  in  1873-4  and  again  in 
1876-7.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  ravages  of  these  in- 
sects and  hard  to  realize  the  extent  of  the  suffering  that 
their  devastation  caused  the  pioneers.  These  insects  are 
a  species  of  locust  or  grasshopper  that  breeds  abundantly 
every  year,  by  boring  holes  in  the  ground  and  filling  these 
holes  with  eggs  during  August,  and  these  eggs  hatch  out 
the  following  spring.  Hundreds  of  these  eggs  are  laid  by 
a  single  insect  and  the  rate  of  propagation  is  enoraious. 
When  hatched  out  the  young  feed  on  the  tender  vegetation 
near  by  and  when  they  have  eaten  everything  in  sight  they 
migrate  in  great  swarms,  devouring  grain,  garden  vege- 
tables, growing  crops,  young  grass,  and  everything  of  a 
like  nature.  These  pests  traveled  in  dense  swarms,  often 
several  miles  wide,  obscuring  the  sun  and  making  a  roar- 
ing noise  like  the  sound  of  a  waterfall.  They  traveled 
mostly  in  the  warm  portion  of  the  day,  and  in  the  early 
mornings  and  cool  evenings  would  gather  in  loose  grass 
or  protected  places  for  shelter  and  warmth.  This  fact 
was  made  use  of  by  the  farmers  to  destroy  the  pests. 


136  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

which  were  often  shoveled  up  in  great  quantities  from 
sheltered  places,  and  loose  straw  and  hay  were  scattered 
around  and  then  burned  when  covered  with  the  ' '  hop- 
pers." These  grasshoppers  often  covered  twenty  miles 
a  day  in  their  flight,  leaving  in  their  path  a  region  dev- 
astated as  though  swept  by  a  prairie  fire.  The  old  settlers 
remember  vividly  the  events  of  these  visitations,  that  were 
like  the  ' '  plague  of  locusts  ' '  that  visited  the  Egyptians  in 
the  days  of  Pharoah.^ 

The  climatic  conditions  were  such,  however,  that  the 
grasshoppers  could  not  survive  after  the  second  year.  In 
1876,  when  they  appeared  in  this  county  for  the  second 
time,  a  determined  fight  was  made  to  destroy  them  as 
soon  as  hatched,  and  protect  the  growing  crops.  The 
county  was  organized  in  the  spring,  the  county  buying 
large  sheets  of  tin  and  barrels  of  tar,  which  were  distrib- 
uted throughout  the  county,  and  from  these  ' '  hopper 
dozers  "  were  constructed.  The  long  sheets  of  tin  were 
fastened  together  and  bent  up  at  the  bottom  side  and  filled 
with  tar.  These  tins  were  then  put  on  wheels  or  carried 
through  the  fields,  knocking  the  grasshoppers  off  the  grain 
and  into  the  tar,  from  which  they  were  taken  in  large  quan- 
tities and  burned.^  The  following  year  the  grasshoppers 
departed  unwept  and  unmourned  and  have  never  since 
appeared  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

These  repeated  ravages  of  the  grasshopper  pests  were  a 
serious  hardship  on  the  early  settlers  striving  to  make  a 
living  on  the  Iowa  prairie.  With  crops  destroyed,  gardens 
ruined,  their  incomes  thus  cut  off,  real  privation  and 

1  ' '  For  they  covered  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  so  that  the  land  was 
darkened;  and  they  did  eat  every  herb  of  the  land,  and  all  of  the  fruit 
of  the  trees  which  the  hail  had  left;  and  there  remained  not  any  green 
thing  in  the  trees,  or  in  the  herbs  of  the  field,  through  all  the  land  of 
Egypt. ' ' — Exodus  x :  15. 

2  Palo  Alto  Beporter,  June  9,  1877.  See  also  March  3,  1877,  June  2, 
1877. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  DEVELOPMENT  —  1873-1910      137 

starvation  stared  them  in  the  face.  Many  had  to  seek 
other  means  of  employment  in  order  to  live  and  it  was  only 
the  courageous  and  determined  persistence  and  hope  of 
the  pioneers  that  brought  them  through  this  crisis  in  our 
history. 

The  grasshoppers  had  so  completely  devastated  the 
prairies  that  food  and  provisions  were  very  scarce.  This 
scarcity  was  intensified  by  the  terrible  money  panic  of 

1873,  inaugurated  by  the  disastrous  "Black  Friday"  on 
Wall  Street,  which  spread  its  ominous  results  throughout 
the  country.  Money  was  almost  unknown  and  the  settlers 
had  to  subsist  as  best  they  could  on  game  and  what  few 
provisions  they  could  procure.  Many  of  the  settlers  were 
in  desperate  circumstances. 

The  condition  of  the  people  became  very  deplorable  in 

1874,  especially  during  the  winter  months.  The  extremely 
wet  weather  and  the  ravages  of  the  grasshoppers  had  left 
them  without  crops,  and  many  of  them  in  such  destitute 
circumstances  as  to  be  "  unable  to  procure  food,  clothing, 
or  seed  to  sow  for  the  coming  season. ' '  These  facts  were 
set  out  in  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  board  of  supervisors 
February  4, 1874,  and  forwarded  to  Hon.  E.  J.  Hartshorn, 
then  a  member  of  the  general  assembly  of  Iowa,  and  ask- 
ing for  relief  in  their  time  of  need.^  Nothing,  however, 
came  of  this  appeal  and  the  people  of  the  county  were 
compelled  to  work  out  their  own  salvation,  which  they  did 
with  persevering  courage  and  hopefulness. 

But  these  reverses  and  troubles  soon  came  to  an  end. 
After  a  year  or  two  their  effects  had  been  overcome.  The 
splendid  courage  and  determination  of  the  settlers  sur- 
mounted all  obstacles,  and  the  tremendous  fertility  of  the 
soil  soon  yielded  an  abundance  that  brought  a  return  of 
prosperity.    Adversity  was  after  all  short-lived  and  the 

1  Minutes,  Supervisors '  Record,  no.  1,  p.  347.  A  copy  of  the  said  reso- 
lution will  be  found  in  full  in  Appendix  C  to  this  history. 


138  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

final  period  of  development  was  at  last  ushered  in  and  the 
county  grew  in  population  and  prosperity  with  a  steady 
and  healthful  advance.  Space  allows  mention  of  only  a 
few  incidents  in  this  long  and  eventful  period. 

The  prosperity  of  the  county  continued  to  increase.  An 
article  in  the  Palo  Alto  Reporter  October  7,  1876,  says : 
' '  Lands  range  from  $2  to  $10  per  acre,  wild,  and  from  $8 
to  $20  improved.  .  .  Dairying  and  stock-raising  are 
becoming  favorite  industries  of  the  county.  In  1874  the 
county  exported  $30,000  worth  of  butter  and  $80,000  worth 
of  cattle.  In  1875  $50,000  in  butter  and  $100,000  in  fat 
cattle." 

The  schools  of  the  county  were  increasing  in  number 
and  efficiency.  A.  L.  Day,  who  was  elected  county  super- 
intendent of  schools  in  1873,  was  a  man  of  culture  and 
scholarly  attainments.  Mr.  Day  started  a  private  school 
at  Emmetsburg  in  1874  and  Miss  Maria  Blair  ^  acted  as 
deputy  superintendent  until  the  Old  Town  was  moved  up 
to  the  present  site.  J.  C.  Bennett  was  elected  superintend- 
ent the  following  year  and  served  one  term. 

One  of  the  first  Normal  Institutes  of  which  there  is  a 
record  in  the  newspapers  was  held  in  October,  1876.  Miss 
Bassett  and  J.  L.  Martin  were  the  instructors.  About 
fifty  teachers  were  enrolled  and  an  instructive  program 
was  carried  out  successfully. 

The  county  schools  were  indeed  becoming  an  important 
factor  in  the  development  of  the  county.  No  one  man 
perhaps  exerted  more  influence  upon  the  schools  of  the 
county  in  an  early  day  than  J.  L.  Martin,  who  was  not 
only  a  pioneer  settler  but  a  pioneer  in  school  work.  He 
was  elected  county  superintendent  in  1869  and  as  a  teacher 
and  instructor  for  many  years  thereafter  took  an  active 
and  influential  part  in  perfecting  the  school  system  of  the 
county. 

1  Maria  Blair  and  George  B.  MeCarty  were  married  December  14,  1875. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  DEVELOPMENT  —  1873-1910      139 

Along  in  1871  some  difficulties  had  arisen  over  the 
swamp  lands  which  had  been  conveyed  to  Wm.  E.  Clark 
in  1860.  The  board  of  supervisors  finally  appointed  a 
committee,  consisting  of  Geo.  B.  McCarty,  Robt.  Shea  and 
Wm.  E.  Cullen,  to  investigate  these  swamp  titles  and  they 
reported  that  the  finances  of  the  county  were  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  bear  the  expense  of  quieting  these  titles,  but  that 
the  board  make  the  best  possible  terms  with  the  intending 
purchasers  of  the  interest  of  the  county  and  that  the  pur- 
chasers quiet  the  title  in  their  own  name  and  at  their  own 
expense,  and  suggesting  that  the  board  call  a  special  elec- 
tion to  ascertain  the  wishes  of  the  people  thereon,  although 
this  was  not  absolutely  imperative.^  Again  in  1874  a 
committee  composed  of  W.  H.  Shea  and  T.  W.  Harrison 
was  authorized  to  investigate  the  unpatented  swamp  lands 
of  the  county  and  procure  patenting  of  such  lands  as  soon 
as  possible.  And  as  these  tracts  were  not  listed  for  tax- 
ation, being  unsettled  and  their  ownership  uncertain,  in 
the  words  of  the  record  ' '  the  county  was  losing  large  sums 
annually, ' '  and  in  order  to  remedy  this  the  board  agreed 
to  quit  claim  all  the  swamp  and  overflowed  lands,  that  were 
duly  patented  to  the  county,  and  not  included  in  the  de- 
scription in  the  county's  deed  to  Mr.  Stockdale.  These 
transactions  as  to  the  disposal  of  the  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lands  show  how  little  value  was  attached  to  this 
land  at  that  time.  Vast  tracts  of  land  were  thus  practic- 
ally given  away  which  are  now  being  drained  and  reclaim- 
ed and  made  the  most  fertile  farming  land  in  the  country. 

A  memorable  convention  was  held  at  Le  Mars  in  1 874  to 
nominate  a  candidate  for  district  attorney  for  the  north- 
west district  of  Iowa.  That  was  before  the  days  of  the 
county  attorneys,  when  the  prosecuting  attorney  traveled 
around  the  circuit  with  the  judges.  Geo.  B.  McCarty  from 
Palo  Alto  County,  E.  B.  Soper  of  Estherville,  Lewis, 

1  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Eecord,  Palo  Alto  County,  vol.  i,  p.  2] 2. 


140  HISTORY  OF  PALt)  ALTO  COUNTY 

from  Cherokee,  Evans  from  Harrison  County,  Judge  Eob- 
inson  of  Buena  Vista,  and  Judge  Ford  of  Sioux  City,  were 
the  candidates  before  the  convention.  Emmetsburg  sent 
a  delegation  of  politicians,  T.  W.  Harrison,  Capt.  E.  J. 
Hartshorn,  M.  L.  Brown,  and  Charlie  Ketchen.  After 
an  exciting  convention  the  Emmetsburg  candidate  succeed- 
ed in  getting  the  nomination.  The  trip  home  was  nearly 
as  exciting  as  the  convention,  as  the  delegates  vividly 
remember  hauling  their  horses  out  of  swamps  and  deep 
water  and  many  acts  of  heroism  and  daring  in  getting 
across  the  swollen  streams  that  several  times  threatened 
to  engulf  the  whole  party. 

In  the  fall  election  Geo.  B.  McCarty  was  elected  district 
attorney  for  the  western  district  of  Iowa.  The  next  year 
he  removed  to  Sioux  City,  in  order  to  be  nearer  his  work, 
and  remained  there  until  September,  1878,  when  he  re- 
signed the  office,  returned  to  Emmetsburg,  and  permanent- 
ly resumed  the  practice  of  law  at  the  county  seat  of  Palo 
Alto  County. 

An  agricultural  society  was  organized  in  Palo  Alto 
County  in  December,  1876,  and  January,  1877.^  After 
several  preliminary  conferences  the  following  officers  were 
elected  at  a  meeting  at  the  office  of  T.  W.  Harrison,  Jan- 
uary, 1877: 

President — J.  C.  Baker. 

Vice  President — J  as.  Scott. 

Secretary — C.  A.  Hoffman. 

Treasurer — T.  W.  Harrison. 

And  one  director  from  each  township.^ 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  society  that  held  annual 
fairs  for  so  many  years  and  that  still  owns  the  grounds 
south  of  Emmetsburg. 

^Beporter,  Dec.  16,  1876,  vol.  ii,  no.  27,  and  Dec.  30,  1876,  vol.  ii,  no. 
29,  and  Jan.  20,  1877,  vol.  ii,  no.  32. 

2  Reporter,  Jan.  20,  1877,  vol.  ii,  no.  32. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  DEVELOPMENT  —  1873-1910      141 

The  railroad  was  so  slow  in  coming  that  the  enterprising 
citizens  of  Emmetsburg  decided  to  build  a  road  of  their 
own.  ' '  The  Des  Moines  River  R.  R. "  was  organized  with 
E.  S.  Ormsby  as  president  and  A.  W.  Utter  as  secretary, 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  road  south  from  Emmets- 
burg through  the  county.  At  a  directors'  meeting  Janu- 
ary, 1877,  steps  were  taken  to  vote  a  tax  and  other  arrange- 
ments made.  The  newspaper  report  optimistically  con- 
cluded as  follows :  ' '  The  meeting  was  well  attended  and  a 
commendable  amount  of  enthusiasm  and  unanimity  of  feel- 
ing manifested. ' '  ^  Taxes  were  voted  in  one  or  two  town- 
ships and  voted  down  in  others,  and  this  reverse  effectual- 
ly crippled  the  enterprise.  The  building  of  the  Milwaukee 
the  following  year  and  the  Burlington  a  few  years  later  put 
a  damper  on  home  roads,  and  though  this  branch  was 
periodically  agitated,  it  never  was  consummated. 

The  failure  of  the  railroad  to  build  through  to  Emmets- 
burg as  expected  was  a  great  disappointment  to  the  people. 
With  the  terminus  of  the  road  only  twenty-five  miles  dis- 
tant at  Algona,  it  was  expected  that  the  new  town  would 
soon  have  railroad  facilities.  But  year  after  year  passed 
and  the  railroad  company  became  involved  in  litigation 
over  '^ overlapping"  grants  with  other  roads  and  did  not 
comply  with  the  requirement  of  their  grant  from  the  state, 
that  the  road  be  built  through  to  Sheldon  by  December  1, 
1877.  The  question  of  forfeiture  of  the  grant  became  the 
issue  in  the  Legislature  in  1878.  Capt.  E.  J.  Hartshorn 
of  Emmetsburg  was  state  senator  from  this  district  and 
was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Railroads  in  the  Sen- 
ate. In  writing  of  the  situation,  he  says:  **We  had  a 
big  fight  over  the  old  McGregor  and  Missouri  River  R.  R. 
land  grant.  They  had  only  built  to  Algona  and  their  time 
was  more  than  up  for  building  through  to  Sheldon.  The  B., 
C.  R.  &  N.'s  terminus  was  then  in  Grundy  County,  and 

1  Palo  Alto  Reporter,  Jan.  20,  1877,  vol.  ii,  no.  32. 


142  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

wanted  to  build  up  to  Algona,  take  this  grant  and  build  on 
west  from  there.  They  made  a  tremendous  effort  in  the 
Legislature,  backed  by  powerful  state  interests,  but  gen- 
erally along  the  line  of  the  incompleted  portion  of  the 
McGregor  road  the  people  wanted  the  grant  taken  from 
the  old  construction  company  and  given  to  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  road.  After  an  exciting  struggle 
we  won  out  and  the  road  was  built  from  Algona  to  Patter- 
sonville  (now  Hull  I  think)  in  O'Brien  County  that  season 
(1878) . "  ^  It  was  with  great  rejoicing  that  the  first  train 
was  welcomed  at  Emmetsburg  in  1878  and  the  town  began 
at  once  to  grow  and  expand  commensurate  with  its  im- 
portance as  the  county-seat  of  the  prosperous  county  of 
Palo  Alto. 

The  long  heralded  railroad  from  the  south  finally  be- 
came a  reality  in  1881,  when  the  B.,  C.  R.  &  N.  R.  R.  com- 
menced building  their  tracks  through  this  county  north  to 
Estherville,  Spirit  Lake,  etc.  When  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  found  that  the  B.,  C.  R.  &  N.  was  about 
to  build  from  Emmetsburg  to  Estherville,  they  became 
alarmed  lest  the  new  road  should  take  a  part  of  the  terri- 
tory which  they  had  intended  to  occupy  and  cut  them  out 
from  a  line  which  they  had  projected  from  Emmetsburg 
northwest  via  Estherville,  Jackson  and  Crookston,  Minne- 
sota, and  then  north  to  Winnipeg.  This  was  a  pet  scheme 
of  S.  S.  Merrill,  the  general  manager  of  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee &  St.  Paul  railway.  The  Burlington,  as  the  old 
B.,  C.  R.  &  N.  road  was  called,  had  no  sooner  made  their 
survey  and  begun  grading  than  the  Milwaukee  rushed 
contractors,  laborers  and  material  to  Emmetsburg  and 
began  to  push  the  construction  of  a  branch  road  north. 
This  unusual  activity  stirred  the  Burlington  and  they 
redoubled  their  efforts  and  there  began  across  the  northern 

1  Letter  of  Capt.  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  Washington,  D.  C.  See  also  the  files 
of  the  Beporter  during  this  time. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  DEVELOPMENT  —  1873-1910      143 

part  of  Palo  Alto  County  a  race  in  construction  of  rail- 
roads that  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  history  of 
the  west.  Neck  and  neck  the  two  roads  struggled  as  far 
as  Osgood,  six  miles  north  of  Emmetsburg,  where  the  Bur- 
lington being  slightly  in  the  lead,  drew  in  close  to  the  low 
line  of  bluffs  north  of  Osgood,  which  would  have  crowded 
the  Milwaukee,  which  was  building  parallel  with  them  on 
the  west  side,  into  the  foot  hills,  and  thus  the  Milwaukee 
suddenly  changed  their  survey  and  crossed  at  Osgood  to 
the  east,  going  by  way  of  the  town  of  High  Lake  (now 
abandoned),  then  on  to  Estherville.  Another  strategic 
position  was  the  narrow  isthmus  between  Spirit  and  East 
Okoboji  Lakes,  which  is  only  wide  enough  for  one  right  of 
way.  Here  again  the  Burlington  stole  a  march  by  sending 
A.  A.  Wells,  who  lived  near  Osgood,  up  there  to  secure  the 
right  of  way  and  when  he  had  contracted  for  the  right  of 
way  it  effectually  shut  out  the  Milwaukee  from  that  route, 
and  they  built  no  further  than  Estherville,  while  the  Bur- 
lington continued  on  through.  The  rivalry  between  the 
two  roads  was  very  keen  and  as  the  trains  started  from 
Emmetsburg  at  the  same  time,  and  as  the  roads  ran 
parallel  to  each  other  for  four  or  five  miles,  there  was  a 
daily  race  between  the  two  trains  to  reach  the  crossing. 
The  train  crews  soon  imbibed  the  spirit  of  bitter  rivalry 
and  it  was  a  daily  event  for  the  crews  to  hurl  anathemas 
at  each  other  and  fight  for  the  right  of  way  at  the  crossing. 
The  Milwaukee  road  ran  one  of  their  engines  squarely 
across  the  crossing  and  held  it  there,  refusing  to  let  the 
other  road  cross  their  trains  until  finally  the  engine  was 
removed  by  a  court  injunction.  But  though  the  Burling- 
ton seemed  to  get  the  best  of  these  stirring  days  of  rivalry, 
this  new  road  was  barely  able  to  keep  going.  One  of  their 
engines  was  attached  in  Minnesota  for  a  coal  bill.  Times 
were  hard  and  business  poor.  Several  of  the  old  settlers 
remember  distinctly  that  for  several  years,  especially  dur- 


144  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

ing  the  summer  time,  the  Burlington  carried  very  little 
freight  and  it  was  a  common  sight  for  days  in  succession 
to  see  the  engine  and  a  caboose  go  by  without  a  single 
freight  car  attached/  Trains  would  wait  for  passengers 
and  freight  and  even  on  the  Milwaukee  they  have  been 
known  to  leave  cars  of  lumber,  household  goods,  etc.,  on 
their  main  track  between  stations  for  the  convenience  of 
the  consignee  in  unloading.  But  although  the  Milwaukee 
temporarily  had  the  advantage  of  the  freight  and  passen- 
ger traffic  on  account  of  their  main  line  running  east  and 
west  through  Emmetsburg,  for  which  the  branch  line  made 
a  good  feeder,  yet  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Merrill  and  when 
other  parties  came  into  control,  the  branch  was  neglected, 
the  road  bed  grew  up  to  weeds,  the  track  poor,  the  trains 
more  irregular,  and  often  in  the  winter  the  trains  would 
be  stuck  in  the  snowdrifts  for  days,  or  would  not  run  at 
all  for  weeks  at  a  time  on  account  of  the  snow  and  severe 
weather.  Finally  a  compromise  was  effected  with  the 
Burlington  and  the  Milwaukee  tracks  were  taken  up,  the 
branch  abandoned  in  1889  or  1890,  and  nothing  now  re- 
mains except  the  abandoned  grade  which  may  still  be  seen 
paralleling  the  present  Rock  Island  track  north  to  Osgood, 
the  historic  evidence  of  a  great  struggle  in  railroad  build- 
ing. 

There  are  many  other  events  that  are  well  worthy  of 
being  chronicled,  but  the  limits  of  this  volume  prevent 
their  narration  at  this  time.  The  files  of  the  county  papers, 
which  have  been  preserved,  give  a  regular  history  from 
week  to  week  of  these  later  years  of  development. 


1  Statements  of  J.  A.  Spies,  Z.  F.  Dickinson,  C.  H.  Giddings,  and  others. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 

The  Rise  of  the  County  Towns 

The  building  of  the  railroads  through  the  county  was  an 
important  factor  in  opening  up  new  regions  for  settlement 
and  increasing  the  accessibility  of  the  lands.  It  is  a  pecu- 
liar fact  that  all  the  towns  of  the  county  except  the  old 
town  of  Emmet sburg  were  brought  into  existence  along 
the  line  of  the  railroads.  The  railroad  determined  the 
location  and  in  fact  made  the  towns  possible.  It  was  the 
railroad  that  gave  rise  to  the  numerous  small  towns 
throughout  the  county,  and  the  history  of  these  small 
towns  must  of  necessity  follow  the  lines  of  road  and  their 
construction. 

These  towns  have  been  an  important  factor  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  county  and  their  history  is  an  essential  link 
in  the  historical  chain. 

RUTHVEN 

The  town  of  Ruthven  was  started  the  year  the  Milwau- 
kee railroad  was  built  through  the  county,  1878.  Ruthven 
Brothers,  Robert  and  Alex,  owned  the  land  where  the 
present  town  site  is  located  and  they  gave  one-half  to  the 
railroad  company  in  return  for  locating  the  town  plat 
there.  The  town  was  accordingly  laid  out  and  called 
Ruthven.  While  the  construction  gang  was  still  grading 
the  road,  a  small  shanty  was  put  up  and  used  as  a  saloon. 
That  sort  of  business  seemed  to  be  the  first  need  of  the 
rough  workers,  and  migrated  with  them  as  their  work  pro- 
gressed. Thos.  Miller  was  the  first  resident  of  the  town, 
as  he  moved  his  camp  shack  to  the  town  site  while  the  road 
was  being  graded,  and  lived  there  and  boarded  some  of  the 


146  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

men.  John  McDonald  built  a  small  store  there  shortly 
after  the  railroad  was  completed  through  and  put  in  a  few 
groceries,  overalls,  jackets,  etc.  C.  W.  Hastings  later 
bought  McDonald  out.  Potter  &  Scovington  were  the  next 
to  put  in  a  store.  The  building  of  the  Des  Moines  &  Fort 
Dodge  Railroad  through  to  Ruthven  in  1882,  and  making 
that  the  northern  terminus  of  the  road  gave  an  added  im- 
petus to  the  growth  of  the  town.  Town  lots  then  began  to 
sell  rapidly  and  for  the  next  year  or  two  the  town  boomed 
considerably.  Stores  were  built,  better  houses  were  erect- 
ed, and  the  population  grew  rapidly.  From  then  on  the 
history  of  Ruthven  is  the  history  of  a  steadily  growing 
town  and  it  is  not  only  the  oldest  of  the  small  towns  of  the 
county,  but  it  is  the  largest  and  has  continued  to  prosper 
and  thrive  until  now  it  stands  well  among  the  towns  of  its 
size  in  the  state. 

WEST  BEND 

The  present  site  of  the  town  of  "West  Bend  was  first  set- 
tled by  Jeremiah  Kelly  of  Ruthven  and  a  young  man 
named  Jones.  Mr.  Kelly  built  the  first  frame  house  in 
the  township  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  A  postoffice 
had  been  established  at  the  Carter  cabin  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  river  where  there  was  a  sharp  turn  to  the  west. 
This  gave  the  name  West  Bend  to  the  township  and  when 
the  B.,  C.  R.  &  N.  Ry.  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1881  the 
people  of  West  Bend  township  voted  a  five  per  cent  tax 
on  condition  that  the  company  would  locate  a  depot  in  the 
township.  The  railroad  tried  to  get  the  tax  and  at  the 
same  time  miss  the  township,  but  finally  located  a  station 
just  inside  the  township  line  and  named  it  Ives  after  the 
president  of  the  road.  The  people  of  the  township  wanted 
the  name  West  Bend  and  A.  B.  Carter  met  Col.  Dows,  one 
of  the  main  officials  of  the  road,  at  Capt.  Sopor's  office  in 
Emmetsburg  and  asked  him  to  change  the  name  of  the 
town  to  West  Bend,  which  he  finally  consented  to  do.     This 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  COUNTY  TOWNS  147 

was  before  there  was  a  single  house  built  on  the  proposed 
town  site. 

The  building  of  the  railroad  brought  with  it  the  shanties 
of  the  construction  gangs,  and  a  shanty  saloon,  with  a  beer 
keg  for  a  chimney,  was  hastily  constructed  east  of  the  right 
of  way.  The  first  permanent  building  was  a  companion 
for  the  shanty  and  was  built  by  Jack  Gallegar  as  a  saloon 
in  order  to  accommodate  the  thirsty  toilers  on  the  con- 
struction work.  This  building  was  located  where  Mikes 
Bros. '  meat  market  now  stands  and  was  completed  in  the 
year  1881,  the  same  time  the  railroad  was  completed. 
James  Evans  put  up  a  store  building  (the  one  now  occu- 
pied by  Geo.  G.  Schreiber)  and  bought  a  stock  of  groceries. 
Edward  Bagley,  in  the  late  fall  of  '81,  moved  an  old  cheese 
factory  from  the  Banwart  settlement  in  Garfield  township, 
Kossuth  County,  and  set  it  up  for  a  hardware  store  on  the 
corner  now  occupied  by  Falb's  blacksmith  shop.  James  Til- 
ford  and  his  brother  built  a  little  store  and  then  H.  H.  Ja- 
cobs gave  up  the  stage-line,  built  a  store  and  put  in  a  stock 
of  groceries  that  cost  him  $855.  That  was  considered  quite 
a  stock  in  those  days.  The  next  summer  Mr.  Jacobs  put 
in  dry  goods,  crockery,  shoes,  and  other  general  mer- 
chandise. His  first  bill  of  shoes  was  $100  and  dry  goods, 
$150.  He  then  had  the  most  complete  and  largest  store 
next  to  Emmetsburg.  His  store  was  only  20  x  40  and  by 
the  latter  part  of  July  it  was  so  full  of  goods  that  he  had  to 
build  on  an  addition.  Wm.  Amos  about  that  time  bought 
grain  and  live  stock  and  later,  in  partnership  with  Gray 
as  Amos  &  Gray,  added  lumber  and  coal.  Later  they  also 
put  in  a  store.  Then  James  Johnson  moved  to  town  and 
was  the  first  postmaster,  the  postoffice  being  moved  in  from 
the  Carter  cabin.  Mr.  Johnson  built  a  building  which 
was  occupied  by  Benjamin  Franklin  as  a  drug  store. 

In  the  spring  of  1882  McFarland  &  McCormick  bought 
out  the  Evans  stock  of  goods  and  in  the  fall  McFarland 


148  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

bought  out  McConnick  and  a  little  later  absorbed  the 
Amos  store,  founding  the  firm  of  McFarland  &  Son,  which 
has  since  been  running  and  is  the  pioneer  firm  of  West 
Bend.  Franklin  Minger  was  the  first  blacksmith,  and  his 
son  Elmore  was  the  first  child  bom  in  the  town.  Elmore 
is  still  a  resident  of  West  Bend  and  is  head  clerk  in  the 
McFarland  department  store.  L.  E.  Hampton  had  the 
first  clothing  store.  Mark  Gray  built  the  first  residence. 
J.  C.  Fehlhauer  in  1882  built  the  West  Bend  House,  the 
first  regular  hotel  of  the  town,  and  Dan  Kelly  was  the 
first  landlord. 

The  first  school  was  conducted  in  the  old  Steiner  build- 
ing in  1882  and  the  first  sermon  delivered  in  the  town  was 
preached  by  Rev.  Brooks  of  Livermore. 

The  first  passenger  train  that  came  through  West  Bend 
on  the  railroad  brought  Dr.  E.  W.  Bachman,  who  stepped 
off  the  train  at  West  Bend  and  located  there  to  practice 
medicine.  Dr.  Bachman  was  later  county  superintendent, 
state  senator  from  this  district,  and  still  later  moved  to 
Estherville  where  he  is  now  practicing. 

The  period  of  1882-3-4  was  one  of  great  activity  in  West 
Bend,  and  the  town  grew  and  prospered.  It  has  grown 
steadily  since  that  time  and  is  now  one  of  the  thriving 
towns  of  Palo  Alto  County. 

RODMAN 

The  B.,  C.  R.  &  N.  Ry.  was  graded  and  laid  through 
Fern  Valley  township  in  1881.  Wm.  Thompson  had  a 
postoffice  at  his  farm  on  section  18  which  was  called  Fern 
Valley.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Rodman  of  Forest  City, 
an  old  retired  sailor,  owned  some  land  on  the  right  of  way 
in  the  township  and  he  offered  the  railway  company  a  half 
interest  if  they  would  plat  a  town  on  his  land  and  call  it 
''Rodman."  This  was  done  and  the  station  house  was 
the  only  building  except  the  temporary  boarding  shanties 
for  some  time.     Wm.  Thompson  moved  his  postoffice  from 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  COUNTY  TOWNS  149 

his  farm  into  town  and  changed  the  name  to  Eodman. 
He  built  a  small  building  for  the  postoffice  and  also  put 
in  a  small  stock  of  goods.  He  would  walk  back  and  forth 
each  day  to  his  store  from  his  farm.  Soon  after  Wm. 
Sloan  bought  out  this  store  and  became  postmaster.  Thom- 
as Bates  built  the  first  house  and  boarded  the  section 
hands  and  worked  on  the  railroad.  Mart  Fritz  built  a 
house  and  E.  E.  Shriner  built  a  store  in  1888.  W.  D.  Fenn 
built  the  next  house.  There  were  several  large  hay  barns 
put  up  about  this  time  and  the  buying  and  shipping  of  hay 
became  the  leading  business  of  the  town.  M.  L.  Fritz  built 
a  hotel  and  several  other  stores,  blacksmith  shop,  and  oth- 
er buildings  were  erected  from  time  to  time.  After  sev- 
eral attempts  to  have  a  creamery,  the  people  of  the  town 
finally  got  together,  borrowed  the  money  from  a  bank  at 
Emmetsburg,  and  the  creamery  was  built  in  1895.  Later 
more  hay  bams  and  two  elevators  were  built,  and  several 
more  business  ventures  came  to  the  little  town,  which 
continued  to  grow  until  now  Eodman  is  a  thriving  village, 
which  still  has  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  principal 
hay  shipping  stations  in  the  county. 

OSGOOD 

The  memorable  race  between  the  B.,  C.  R.  &  N.  Ry. 
and  C,  M.  &  St.  P.  north  from  Emmetsburg  to  Spirit 
Lake,  made  history  very  rapidly  in  1881.  The  Burling- 
ton, being  slightly  ahead,  ran  so  close  to  the  bluffs  as  to 
force  the  Milwaukee  to  cross  to  the  east  about  six  miles 
north  of  Emmetsburg.  The  enterprising  farmers  in  the 
neghborhood  were  quick  to  see  the  advantage  of  a  railroad 
crossing  and  bought  part  of  the  Jerry  Conway  farm  and  do- 
nated it  to  the  Burlington  company  on  condition  that  they 
would  put  a  station  there.  The  company  built  that  station 
and  stock  yards  in  1881.  The  station  was  called  Blair- 
gowrie after  Blairgowrie  farm  to  the  eastward,  but  the 
people  got  up  a  petition  to  have  the  town  named  Osgood 


150  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

after  the  town  of  Osgood  in  Canada,  the  home  of  E.  P. 
McEvoy,  who  owned  the  land  where  the  town  of  Osgood 
was  laid  out. 

C.  H.  Giddings  built  a  store  there  in  1882.  He  lived 
on  his  farm  and  would  walk  over  to  his  business  for  some 
time  after  that.  Later  he  built  an  addition  to  his  store 
and  moved  to  town.  In  1890  the  ice  house  for  the  cream- 
ery was  built  and  the  following  year  the  creamery  build- 
ing was  erected.  It  ran  just  a  month  when  it  burned  to 
the  ground.  It  was  rebuilt  at  once.  Z.  F.  Dickinson,  who 
had  settled  just  north  of  where  the  town  site  is  now  lo- 
cated, came  to  the  county  in  May,  1878,  and  was  one  of 
the  prime  movers  in  the  many  enterprises  of  the  town. 
A.  A.  Wells  was  another  prominent  resident  of  that 
vicinity. 

C.  H.  Giddings  was  the  first  postmaster,  as  he  received 
his  commission  in  June,  1882.  Other  buildings,  elevators, 
blacksmith  shop,  stores,  and  houses  were  erected  from 
time  to  time  and  the  town  of  Osgood  has  grown  to  be  a 
good  creamery,  trading  and  shipping  point. 

GEAETTINGER 

A  well  known  physician  of  Milwaukee  owned  about 
2,000  acres  of  land  in  Walnut  township  where  the  railroad 
was  surveyed,  and  he  offered  the  railroad  company  a  half 
interest  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  9,  through 
which  the  right  of  way  passed,  if  they  would  plat  a  town. 
The  railroad  officials,  desiring  to  be  in  on  the  ground  floor, 
organized  the  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa  Falls  «&  Northwestern 
Town  Lot  Co.,  which  took  the  half  interest  in  the  town 
plat  of  the  town  of  Graettinger.  The  railroad  went 
through  late  in  the  year  1882.  For  several  years  there 
was  nothing  to  the  prospective  town  but  the  depot  and  a 
house  on  the  hill  occupied  by  August  Reichle.  In  1885, 
J.  A.  Spies  and  his  father  came  to  Graettinger  and  built 
a  house  there,  and  also  put  up  farm  buildings  on  their 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  COUNTY  TOWNS  151 

farm  in  section  5.  The  town  lot  company  became  discour- 
aged about  this  time  and  Mr.  Spies  bought  them  out. 
H.  N.  Oshier  was  station  agent  at  that  time  and  asked 
Mr.  Goodell,  the  division  superintendent  at  Estherville, 
if  he  could  put  in  a  small  stock  of  goods  in  the  depot  as 
they  had  to  go  clear  to  Emmetsburg  for  their  supplies. 
Mr.  Goodell  replied  that  they  were  about  to  move  the  depot 
to  Osgood  and  that  it  would  not  be  worth  while.  This  was 
the  first  intimation  that  they  had  that  the  enterprising 
people  at  Osgood  were  offering  to  move  the  depot  down 
there  free  of  charge.  Fortunately  for  Graettinger  the 
town  lot  deal  was  not  fully  closed  and  Mr.  Spies  notified 
the  town  lot  company  that  they  did  not  want  the  lots  if  the 
depot  was  moved.  The  prospect  of  this  deal  slipping 
through  their  fingers  roused  the  officials  to  action,  and  the 
order  to  move  the  depot  was  rescinded,  and  Graettinger 
was  saved  by  a  narrow  margin.  In  1887  Geo.  Zahm  built 
the  first  store,  but  in  the  following  year  he  sold  out  to  H. 
N.  Oshier,  who  still  occupies  the  same  store  as  the  pioneer 
merchant  of  the  town.  Mr.  Zahm  soon  after  built  another 
store  further  up  the  street,  and  handled  general  mer- 
chandise there  until  he  later  sold  out  to  Preston  Fahen- 
stock.  This  is  the  same  store  building  that  is  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Wildey  store.  Several  other  stores  of  various 
kinds  were  started  during  the  next  years.  Mr.  Zahm 
and  Mr.  Spies  started  the  first  lumber  yard  in  1890  and  the 
following  year  Mr.  Spies  bought  out  his  partner  and  built 
the  first  elevator.  Henry  Baum  built  the  hotel  the  same 
year.  Preston  Fahenstock  and  his  father  built  the  cream- 
ery in  1892.  The  second  elevator,  the  present  Farmers' 
elevator,  was  put  up  by  H.  N.  Oshier  in  1895.  In  1886  the 
people  wanted  a  school  on  the  Graettinger  side  of  the 
river,  and  so  a  rough-board,  sloping-shed-roof  house  was 
built.  There  was  no  floor  and  at  times  of  rain  the  roof 
leaked  so  that  the  children  had  to  huddle  in  one  corner  to 


152  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

avoid  the  dripping  water.  Miss  Anna  Mahan  (Mrs.  Anna 
Donohue)  was  the  teacher,  and  rode  horseback  three  miles 
every  morning  against  the  bleak  northwest  wind,  to  the 
school.  The  next  year  a  floor  was  added,  but  no  shingles 
on  the  roof.  The  present  school  house  was  constructed 
in  1898.  Many  other  stores,  houses  and  business  places 
of  all  kinds  have  been  added  to  Graettinger  until  at  present 
it  is  a  growing  town  and  has  the  reputation  of  shipping 
more  freight  over  the  railroad  than  any  other  town  of  its 
size  in  Iowa. 

MALLARD 

When  the  Des  Moines  &  Fort  Dodge  Railway  was  sur- 
veying through  the  county,  Ellington  township  voted  a 
tax,  but  Rush  Lake  did  not.  Geo.  Inman,  who  owned  the 
eighty  on  the  west  side  of  the  township  line  and  in  Rush 
Lake  township,  gave  the  railway  company  a  half  interest 
in  return  for  the  location  of  the  town  site  on  his  land. 
This  took  the  station  out  of  Ellington  and  into  Rush  Lake, 
but  the  railway  doubtless  got  the  benefit  of  the  tax  just  the 
same.  Inman  had  promised  the  railway  company  to  give 
them  the  part  of  his  land  east  of  the  tracks,  but  there  was 
a  mortgage  on  it  and  the  mortgagee  took  the  property 
and  this  precipitated  a  long  controversy  with  the  railway 
which  was  finally  compromised  in  some  way.  The  track 
was  laid  as  far  north  as  Mallard  in  September,  1882.  The 
railway  station  was  the  first  building  on  the  town  plat, 
though  Inman  had  a  small  house  on  his  farm  and  Joseph 
Mihlfread  had  lived  in  a  small  shack  in  the  neighborhood 
for  several  years.  The  town  was  named  by  Chas.  E. 
Whitehead,  president  of  the  Des  Moines  &  Fort  Dodge 
Railway,  who  was  a  great  hunter  and  used  to  hunt  out 
through  this  county  for  several  years  before  the  railway 
was  built.  He  had  a  good  sense  of  humor  and  after  nam- 
ing '' Plover,"  the  station  to  the  south,  called  this  new 
station  '^ Mallard"  because  of  the  great  quantities  of 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  COUNTY  TOWNS  153 

ducks  that  inhabited  the  sloughs  and  ponds.  The  railway- 
had  hardly  been  completed  before  Hackenburg  built  a 
store  and  opened  up  a  stock  of  general  merchandise.  He 
was  followed  in  the  same  year  (1882)  by  Bill  Stafford's 
general  store.  John  Mertis  built  the  first  residence  in 
town.  In  the  spring  of  1883  C.  H.  Sands  started  a  grain, 
coal,  and  lumber  business  and  Orie  Kendall  built  a  hotel. 
Mr.  Hackenburg  was  the  first  postmaster  of  the  town.  At 
first  the  regular  church  and  Sunday  School  services  were 
held  in  the  waiting  room  of  the  depot,  as  that  was  the 
largest  available  room.  Chas.  Ziegler  started  the  first 
hardware  store  in  the  fall  of  1883  and  several  other  busi- 
nesses started  and  from  that  time  on  the  growth  of  the 
town  was  rapid  and  has  continued  until  Mallard  is  today 
a  prosperous  business  town. 

CUELEW 

The  town  of  Curlew  was  another  station  established  in 
1882  on  the  Des  Moines  &  Fort  Dodge  Railway.  It  was 
named  Curlew  by  President  Whitehead  of  the  railway 
company  in  honor  of  the  numerous  curlew  birds  found  in 
the  neighborhood  and  in  keeping  with  his  policy  of  nam- 
ing the  towns  as  an  enthusiastic  hunter.  S.  A.  Easton 
built  a  hotel  near  the  railway  right  of  way,  some  distance 
from  other  towns,  and  drew  trade  for  some  time  from  the 
county  round  about  before  the  company  put  in  a  station. 
Mr.  Easton  was  a  genial  landlord  and  his  house  did  a 
good  business.  In  1888  Melvin  Fisk  purchased  the  hotel 
from  Easton,  and  later  built  a  livery  and  feed  barn  and 
still  later  a  grain  elevator.  He  soon  branched  out  and 
sold  coal  and  bought  and  sold  stock.  From  this  begin- 
ning the  town  grew  steadily  and  Mr.  Fisk  has  continued 
and  is  today  its  chief  promoter  and  business  man.  Cer- 
lew  is  a  lively  little  town  and  holds  its  own  among  the 
towns  of  Palo  Alto  County  in  an  educational  as  well  as  a 
business  way. 


154  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

AYRSHIRE 

The  Des  Moines  &  Fort  Dodge  Railway  Company  built 
through  to  Ayrshire  in  October,  1882.  P.  0 'Grady  was 
the  foreman  of  the  construction  gang  from  Tara  to  Ruth- 
ven  and  January  1,  1883,  dropped  off  at  Ayrshire  as  sta- 
tion agent,  and  held  that  position  for  eighteen  years. 
Patrick  Claer  had  bought  a  relinquishment  of  some  land 
in  Silver  Lake  township  in  1873  and  moved  there  with  his 
two  boys,  Tom  and  P.  J.,  and  one  daughter,  and  lived  there 
until  1882,  when  he  sold  eighty  acres  to  the  railroad  com- 
pany for  a  town  site.  The  depot  was  built  in  November, 
1882.  P.  H.  Owens  built  the  first  store  that  fall  and 
Schoonmaker  &  Hall  built  a  general  store  at  about  the 
same  time.  The  next  summer  Geo.  Pendelburg  opened  a 
hardware  store  and  then  built  the  first  residence  on  the 
town  lots.  Ed  Brown  started  a  lumber  yard  and  Joel 
Campbell  opened  up  a  coal  business.  H.  Emrich  also  went 
into  the  hay  business  and  sold  coal  and  other  supplies. 
As  Mr.  0 'Grady,  the  station  agent,  also  bought  coal  and 
grain  on  the  side,  there  was  plenty  of  competition  along 
this  line.  From  this  time  on  Ayrshire  grew  rapidly  and 
was  soon  a  thriving  village  that  was  a  great  convenience 
to  the  surrounding  territory,  and  it  has  continued  to  grow 
until  today  it  stands  well  to  the  front  among  the  towns  of 
Palo  Alto  County. 

CYIilNDER 

Cylinder  started  with  a  large  hay  bam  built  by  Brown 
&  Sons  in  1885  and  the  railroad  company  then  put  in  a 
siding  in  order  to  enable  them  to  load  hay.  The  Browns 
also  built  a  house  the  same  year  and  in  1889  John  Geoders 
built  a  store.  The  following  year  the  railroad  company 
built  a  depot,  and  the  station  was  named  Cylinder  after  the 
famous  Cylinder  Creek  that  flows  near  the  town  site.  It  is 
said  that  the  creek  got  its  name  from  an  attempt  of  some 
early  settlers  to  cross  the  stream  at  high  water  with  an 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  COUNTY  TOWNS  155 

engine,  but  the  feat  was  too  difficult  and  the  heavy  machine 
sank  into  the  mud  and  the  cylinder  became  detached  and 
lost  in  the  creek  and  was  never  found.  This  may  be  only 
a  legend,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  stream  which  has  long 
been  known  by  that  name  gave  the  name  to  the  town  locat- 
ed not  far  from  its  banks.  John  Geoders  was  the  first 
postmaster.  In  1890  Chas.  Terwilliger  built  another  store 
and  the  farmers  built  the  creamery.  The  following  year 
the  farmers  joined  together  and  put  up  a  blacksmith  shop 
and  house  for  the  blacksmith  and  John  Ganzley  took 
charge  and  worked  out  the  price  of  the  building  in  work 
for  the  stockholders  until  it  was  fully  paid  for.  Kelly 
Bros,  put  in  another  store  in  1892  and  the  hotel  and  livery 
bam  was  erected  by  E.  E.  Hughes  the  following  year. 
Others  built  stores  and  houses  and  the  town  grew  rapidly 
until  1901,  when  it  was  incorporated,  Geo.  Wells  being  the 
first  mayor  and  M.  N.  Oleson  the  first  and  only  marshal. 
Cylinder  is  in  the  center  of  a  rich  and  prosperous  farming 
community  and  is  a  good  trading  station  and  prosperous 
little  town. 


CHAPTEK  XV 
Our  Modern  County 

Over  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  permanent 
foundations  were  made  in  Palo  Alto  County.  Many  of 
the  pioneers  who  played  a  part  in  the  scenes  enacted  in 
those  early  days  are  still  living  among  us  to  bear  witness 
to  the  marvelous  changes  time  has  wrought. 

From  a  total  of  only  216  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War, 
the  population  of  the  county  has  increased  by  leaps  and 
bounds  until  now  we  have  nearly  15,000  people  within  its 
boundaries.  This  increase  in  population  is  typical  of  the 
development  of  the  land.  From  a  wild,  undeveloped  prai- 
rie country,  with  only  a  few  scattered  settlers  located  along 
the  timbered  streams,  the  land  has  been  all  taken  up  and 
has  doubled  in  value  many  times  until  the  state  census  of 
1905  shows  that  Palo  Alto  County  has  1,557  farms  contain- 
ing 312,040  acres,  with  an  actual  value  of  $15,030,201. 
Land  is  steadily  advancing  in  price,  and  by  means  of  scien- 
tific drainage  and  better  farming  methods,  even  the  one- 
time waste  land  is  now  being  made  to  yield  nature's  abund- 
ance. 

In  prosperity  and  material  wealth  Palo  Alto  County 
stands  well  to  the  front.  There  are  fifteen  banks  in  the 
county,  all  prosperous  and  steadily  growing.  The  com- 
bined capital  stock  and  surplus  amount  to  over  $466,000 
and  the  total  deposits  amount  to  $2,130,074.93,  as  shown 
by  the  last  statements.  In  volume  of  trade  and  business, 
Palo  Alto  ranks  as  one  of  the  live  and  up-to-date  communi- 
ties of  Northwest  Iowa. 

The  1905  state  census  shows  that  during  the  previous 


OUR  MODERN  COUNTY  157 

year  Palo  Alto  County  raised  2,185,245  bushels  of  corn, 
valued  at  $625,543;  1,979,540  bushels  of  oats,  valued  at 
$504,006 ;  and  produced  over  80,000  tons  of  clover,  timothy 
and  wild  hay,  valued  at  over  $170,000,  besides  over  30,000 
bushels  of  other  crops  not  listed.  The  same  census  shows 
that  Palo  Alto  County  had  35,790  cattle,  valued  at  $625,- 
608;  40,451  swine,  valued  at  $191,161;  and  10,609  horses 
and  mules,  valued  at  $628,792 ;  182,940  fowls,  valued  at 
$64,373;  709,380  dozen  eggs,  valued  at  $94,658;  and  dairy 
products  valued  at  $311,170.  All  these  figures  for  stock 
and  crops  would  be  largely  increased  for  the  subsequent 
years.  Surely  this  is  a  splendid  record  for  a  county  that 
has  only  just  begun  to  develop  its  resources. 

In  social  betterment,  Palo  Alto  takes  a  high  place.  A 
thorough  and  complete  system  of  rural  schools  makes  a 
practical  education  accessible  to  every  country  child,  while 
excellent  graded,  parochial  and  high  schools  place  the  best 
advantages  of  a  common  school  education  before  the  am- 
bitious youth  of  today. 

There  are  twenty-eight  flourishing  churches  in  the  coun- 
ty, and  the  large  and  influential  membership  speaks  well 
for  the  Christian  influences  that  are  such  a  strong  factor 
in  the  highest  type  of  civilization. 

In  the  cities  and  towns  we  find  substantial  business 
blocks  and  handsome,  convenient  houses.  The  farmers  are 
building  better  homes,  fitted  with  every  convenience,  and 
the  life  on  the  farm  is  becoming  every  day  less  of  a  drudg- 
ery and  more  of  a  pleasure.  Rural  mail  routes  practically 
cover  the  whole  county,  while  612  miles  of  rural  and 
through  telephone  lines  within  the  county,  together  with 
eight  live,  up-to-date  newspapers,  make  the  dissemination 
of  knowledge  and  ease  of  communication  an  accepted  fact. 
Every  town  in  the  county  has  railroad  connections,  there 
being  over  74  miles  of  railroads  crossing  the  county. 

Emmetsburg,  the  county  seat  of  the  county,  is  a  modem 


158  HISTORY  OP  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

city  in  every  respect,  having  electric  lights,  modern  city 
water  and  fire  protection,  sewerage  system,  public  library, 
fine  modern  opera  house,  good  hotels  and  public  buildings, 
excellent  accredited  schools,  and  strong,  flourishing 
churches.  Many  of  the  other  towns  of  the  county  have 
their  own  lighting  plants  and  water  systems  and  other 
conveniences  unheard  of  in  a  small  town  a  few  years  ago. 
Yet  with  all  the  progress  the  town  and  city  debts  are  low 
and  taxes  small.  The  county  itself  is  in  exceptionally  good 
financial  condition,  as  it  is  out  of  debt,  has  only  $8,000 
bridge  bonds,  no  overdue  obligations,  and  owns  property 
valued  at  $61,000  that  is  rapidly  appreciating  in  value. 

Surely  the  seeds  sown  by  the  courageous  and  far-seeing 
pioneers  have  borne  abundant  fruit.  Palo  Alto  County 
stands  today  as  one  of  the  attractive  counties  of  the  great 
state  of  Iowa.  It  offers  the  advantages  of  a  wholesome, 
up-to-date  community,  a  place  for  a  home,  a  place  in  which 
to  live  in  happiness  and  contentment — life  in  the  best  and 
truest  sense  of  the  word.  Our  modern  county  stands  today 
a  worthy  monument  to  the  pioneers  who  with  patient  in- 
dustry and  wise  foresight  built  such  broad  and  true  found- 
ations. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX  A 

COUNTY  OFFICERS 

1858 — (First  county  officers  elected  at  a  special  election,  December  20, 
1858).  James  Hickey,  county  judge;  John  Mulroney,  treasurer  and  recorder; 
John  Shea,  drainage  commissioner;  James  McCosker,  county  surveyor;  Orrin 
Sylvester,  coroner;  Thos.  H.  Tobin,  sheriff;  Felix  McCosker,  clerk. 

1859 — (Election  October  11th.)  James  Hickey,  county  judge;  John 
Mulroney,  treasurer  and  recorder;  Thomas  McCormick,  clerk;  James  Mc- 
Cormick,  sheriff;  K.  F.  Carter,  coroner;  Joseph  T.  Mulroney,  drainage 
commissioner;  John  L.  Davis,  surveyor. 

1860 — (Election  November  6th.)  Lott  Laughlin,  clerk  of  district  court; 
John  Mulroney,  treasurer  and  recorder;  James  Nolan,  surveyor;  Martin 
Coonan,  sheriff;  John  Nolan,  justice  of  the  peace;  Michael  Graham,  con- 
stable. 

1861 — Thomas  McCormick,  county  judge;  John  Pendergast,  clerk;  J. 
M.  Mulroney,  treasurer  and  recorder;  Jeremiah  Crowley,  drainage  com- 
missioner; John  McCormick,  county  superintendent;  James  Neary,  county 
superxnsor;  Patrick  Lynch,  sheriff;  John  McCormick,  coroner;  Thos.  Camp- 
bell, justice  of  the  peace;   Thos.  Laughlin,  constable.i 

1863 — J.  M.  Mulroney,  treasurer  and  recorder;  Thos.  Campbell,  sheriff; 
Patrick  Mulroney,  county  judge;  Wm.  Carter,  county  superintendent;  John 
McCormick,  coroner;  Hiram  Hall,  drainage  commissioner;  John  Nolan, 
county  supervisor  Emmetsburg  township;   Wm.  E.  Cullen,  clerk. 

1864— James  Hickey,  clerk;  John  Mulroney,  recorder;  Daniel  Ream, 
superintendent. 

1865 — Patrick  Mulroney,  county  judge;  James  P.  White,  treasurer;  Pat- 
rick Nolan,  sheriff;  James  P.  White,  surveyor;  James  H.  Underwood, 
superintendent  and  coroner;   James  Hickey,  clerk. 

1866 — J.  H.  Underwood,  clerk;  A.  B.  Carter,  recorder. 

1867 — Jas.  P.  White,  treasurer;  John  McCormick,  sheriff;  D.  W.  Spauld- 
ing,  superintendent;   John  M.  Hefley,  county  judge. 

1868 — W.  D.  Powers,  recorder;  G.  S.  Anderson,  surveyor. 

1869 — James  P  White,  treasurer;  J.  M.  Hefley,  sheriff;  J.  L.  Martin, 
superintendent;  M.  Coonan,  surveyor. 

1870 — Wm.  E.   Cullen,  recorder;   Eobert  Shea,  clerk. 

1871 — W.  H.  H.  Booth,  auditor;  M.  L.  Brown,  treasurer;  M.  D.  Daniels, 
sheriff;  T.  W.  Harrison,  surveyor;  John  J.  Robins,  superintendent. 

1872 — J.  L.  Martin,  recorder;  Robert  Shea,  clerk. 

1  A  contested  election  between  John  M.  Mulroney  and  John  and  James  Nolan  and 
Thos.  McCormick. 


162  HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 

1873 — W.  H.  Shea,  auditor;  M.  L,  Brown,  treasurer;  P.  C.  Nolan, 
sheriff;  A.  L.  Day,  superintendent;  J.  L.  Lang,  surveyor. 

1874— J.  L.  Martin,  recorder;  T.  J.  Prouty,  clerk.  (Geo.  B.  McCarty 
waa  elected  district  attorney  for  four  years.) 

1875 — Benjamin  Franklin,  auditor;  M.  L.  Brown,  treasurer;  J.  E.  King, 
sheriff;  J.  C.  Bennett,  superintendent;  Le  Koy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1876 — M,  F.  Coonan,  recorder;  T.  J.  Prouty,  clerk. 

1877 — John  J.  Eobins,  auditor;  Robert  Shea,  treasurer;  J.  E.  King, 
sheriff ;  A.  S.  McGrorty,  Jr.,  superintendent ;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1878 — Thomas  Walsh,  recorder;  T.  J,  Prouty,  clerk. 

1879 — John  J.  Robins,  auditor;  Robert  Shea,  treasurer;  Henry  Perkins, 
superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor;  T.  McDonnell,  sheriff. 

1880— Thomas  Walsh,  recorder;  Wm.  E.  Cullen,  clerk. 

1881— W.  H.  H.  Booth,  auditor;  Robert  Shea,  treasurer;  H.  A.  Pike, 
superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor;   T.  McDonnell,  sheriff. 

1882 — Thomas  Walsh,  recorder;  D.  W.  Burlingame,  clerk. 

1883— W.  H.  H.  Booth,  auditor;  Robert  Shea,  treasurer;  P.  V.  Nolan, 
sheriff;  E.  W.  Bachman,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1884 — Thomas  Walsh,  recorder;  J.  E.  King,  clerk. 

1885 — W.  H.  H.  Booth,  auditor;  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  treasurer;  H.  H. 
Jacobs,  sheriff;  B,  E.  Kelly,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1886 — Wm.  G.  Henry,  recorder;  J.  E.  King,  clerk;  Thomas  O'Connor, 
county  attorney  (first  county  attorney  and  only  Democrat  ever  elected  to 
the  office  in  Palo  Alto  County). 

1887 — P.  V.  Nolan,  auditor;  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  treasurer;  H.  H.  Jacobs, 
sheriff;  P.  H.  Donlon,  superintendent;  John  Moncrief,  surveyor. 

1888 — Lewis  Stuehmer,  recorder;  David  Grier,  clerk;  Thomas  O'Connor, 
attorney. 

1889 — P.  V.  Nolan,  auditor;  E.  P.  McEvoy,  treasurer;  H.  H.  Jacobs, 
sheriff;  P.  H.  Donlon,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1890 — ^LeAvis  Stuehmer,  recorder;  C.  E.  Clark,  clerk;  B.  E.  Kelly,  at- 
torney. 

1891 — John  Moncrief,  auditor;  E.  P.  McEvoy,  treasurer;  H.  H.  Jacobs, 
sheriff;  P.  H.  Donlon,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1892 — Lewis  Stuehmer,  recorder;  C.  E.  Clark,  clerk;  Thomas  O'Connor, 
attorney. 

1893 — C.  W.  Hodgkinson,  auditor;  A.  J.  Armstrong,  treasurer;  John  W. 
Hanson,  sheriff;  Bessie  Larson,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1894 — L.  A.  Martin,  recorder;  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  clerk;  John  Menzies, 
attorney. 

1895 — C.  W.  Hodgkinson,  auditor;  A.  J.  Armstrong,  treasurer;  John  W. 
Hanson,  sheriff;    Bessie  Larson,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1896 — L.  A.  Martin,  recorder;  E.  J.  Hartshorn,  clerk;  John  Menzies, 
attorney. 

1897 — P.  V.  Hand,  auditor;  J.  B.  Lamb,  treasurer;  Wesley  Davidson, 
sheriff;  Anna  Donovan,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 


APPENDICES  163 

1898 — Geo.  Kinnie,  recorder;  H.  M.  Helgen,  clerk;  E.  A.  Morling,  at- 
torney. 

1899 — J.  B.  Lamb,  treasurer;  Wesley  Davidson,  sheriff;  Anna  Donovan, 
superintendent;  Le  Koy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1900 — P.  V.  Hand,  auditor;  Geo.  Kinnie,  recorder;  H.  M.  Helgen,  clerk; 
E.  A.  Morling,  attorney. 

1901 — S.  P.  Crisman,  treasurer;  Alex  CuUen,  sheriff;  Anna  Donovan, 
superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1902 — Thos.  R.  Martin,  auditor;  F.  H.  Wells,  recorder;  D.  A.  Johnson, 
clerk;  F.  C.  Davidson,  attorney. 

1903 — S.  P.  Crisman,  treasurer;  Wm.  Coakley,  sheriff;  Anna  Odland, 
superintendent ;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor. 

1904— Thos.  R.  Martin,  auditor;  F.  H.  Wells,  recorder;  D.  A.  Johnson, 
clerk;  F.  C.  Davidson,  attorney. 

1906 — Sim  R.  Stedman,  auditor;  E.  G.  Kelley,  treasurer;  E.  M.  Carney, 
clerk;  Wm.  Coakley,  sheriff;  Pearle  Richardson,  recorder;  J.  E.  Williams, 
attorney;  Lille  Patton,  superintendent;  Le  Roy  Grout,  surveyor;  J.  L.  Van 
Gorden,  coroner;  B.  J.  Bergeson,  representative. 

1908— Sim  R.  Stedman,  auditor;  E.  G.  Kelly,  treasurer;  E.  M.  Carney, 
clerk;  Alex  CuUen,  sheriff;  Pearle  Richardson,  recorder;  J.  E.  Williams, 
attorney;  Lille  Patton,  superintendent;  Guy  Campbell,  surveyor;  J.  L.  Van 
Gorden,  coroner;  F.  C.  Davidson,  representative. 


APPENDIX  B 

ASSIGNMENT  OF  JUDGMENT  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  PAOLI 
COUET  HOUSE  MATTER 

The   County    of  Palo  Alto    \  In  the  District  Court  of 
vs.  >     the    County    of    Palo 

John  M.  Stockdale  et  al.       \     Alto. 

To  the  Honorable  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Palo  Alto  County,  Iowa:  — 

At  the  June  term  of  the  District  Court  of  Palo  Alto  Co.,  in  1866,  a 
judgment  was  rendered  and  entered  upon  the  Judgment  Docket  now  in  the 
office  of  the  clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  said  County,  against  John  M. 
Stockdale  and  others,  defendants,  in  the  above  entitled  cause,  and  in  favor 
of  Palo  Alto  Co.,  Plff.,  for  the  sum  of  ($9750.00),  Nine  Thousand  Seven 
Hundred  and  Fifty  Dollars  and  cost  of  suit. 

I  desire  to  purchase  said  judgment  from  your  said  County  and  will  pay 
for  the  same  as  follows,  to  wit: 

Ist. — I  will  deed  or  cause  to  be  deeded  to  your  said  county  one  square 
of  land  containing  three  acres  more  or  less  in  the  town  of  Paoli  in  your 
said  county,  embracing  the  ground  on  which  the  Court  House  now  stands, 
for  the  site  of  a  Court  House  to  be  erected. 

2nd. — Deed  or  cause  to  be  deeded  to  your  said  county  this  day  one 
square  or  tract  of  land  in  the  town  known  as  Paoli,  containing  three  acres, 
more  or  less,  for  the  purpose  of  a  poorhouse  site  or  other  purpose  of  said 
county. 

3rd. — I  will  erect  or  cause  to  be  erected  in  the  county  seat  of  said 
county,  upon  the  land  i5rst  above  named,  one  court  house  or  public  building  for 
said  county,  according  to  the  plan  and  conditions  of  a  contract  herewith  sub- 
mitted and  will  execute  a  bond  with  approved  security  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  said  contract. 

4th. — I  will  release  or  cause  to  be  released  the  county  of  Palo  Alto 
from  all  or  any  claim  which  I  have  or  may  have  against  the  said  county 
for  damages  on  account  of  land  deeded  to  me  by  the  said  county  which 
has  been  conveyed  to  other  parties  by  the  U.  S.  Government,  provided  that 
I  still  retain  all  rights  of  indemnity  which  may  accrue  to  me  from  the 
state  of  Iowa,  or  the  U.  S. 

5th. — I  agree  to  discontinue  or  cause  to  be  discontinued  the  application 
or  suit  now  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  your  said 
county  in  relation  to  the  above  judgment,  and  to  pay  all  costs  which  may 
accrue  or  may  have  been  incurred  in  the  prosecution  of  said  suit  or  appli- 


APPENDICES  165 

cation  for  a  new  trial  in  said  above  cited  cause.  The  acceptance  of  the 
above  proposition  by  your  Board  shall  be  a  final  and  conclusive  contract  and 
agreement  without  further  action  on  my  part.  Witness  my  hand  this  14th 
day  of  August,  A.  D.  1866.  (Signed)  John  M.  Stockdale. 

Eesolved  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  after  full  conference,  investiga- 
tion and  reflection  that  the  interests  of  the  county  will  be  promoted  and 
litigation  and  expense  avoided  as  well  as  a  substantial  benefit  realized 
from  a  doubtful  claim  by  the  sale  of  the  above  named  judgment  of  Nine 
Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Fifty  Dollars,  in  favor  of  Palo  Alto  and 
against  John  M.  Stockdale  and  others,  and  upon  the  terms  and  conditions 
above  offered,  and  we  the  said  Board  of  Supervisors,  do  hereby  sell,  trans- 
fer and  assign  for  good  and  valuable  consideration  the  receipt  of  which 
is  hereby  acknowledged,  to  the  said  John  M.  Stockdale,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs, all  right,  title  and  interest  of  said  County  of  Palo  Alto  in  and  to 
the  said  judgment  or  any  and  every  part  thereof  and  authorize  him  or  his 
assignee  to  collect  said  judgment  and  to  assume  and  have  the  benefit  of 
all  right  and  legal  means  for  the  collection  of  said  judgment  or  any  part 
thereof  which  could  have  leen  resorted  to  by  Palo  Alto  Co.  And  the  said 
defendant  both  principal  and  securities,  to  wit,  John  M.  Stockdale,  Wm.  P. 
Logan,  Wm.  N.  Meservey,  H.  Butterworth,  and  A.  Taylor,  are  hereby  re- 
leased from  the  payment  of  said  judgment  or  any  part  thereof  to  said  Plff., 
Palo  Alto  County,  and  they  and  each  of  them  the  said  defendants  are  hereby 
authorized  and  required  to  pay  said  judgment  to  the  said  John  M.  Stock- 
dale  or  his  assignee  which  shall  be  a  full  and  complete  payment,  and  the 
Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  said  County  of  Palo  Alto  (he  being  the 
clerk  of  the  Board)  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  make  the  follow- 
ing entry  upon  the  Judgment  Docket  in  the  above  entitled  cause  and  im- 
mediately contiguous  to  said  judgment,  to-wit: 

The  above  or  foregoing  judgment  is  hereby  for  good  and  valuable  con- 
sideration sold,  transferred  and  assigned  to  John  M.  Stockdale  and  to  his 
assigns,  August  14th,  1866.  See  order  of  Board  of  Supervisors  and  sign 
his  name  thereto  as  clerk.  Witness  our  hands  this  14th  day  of  August, 
1866.  (Signed)  Joseph  T.  Mulroney, 

John  Nolan, 

Supervisors. 

I  hereby  certify  that  James  H.  Underwood,  C.  M.,  was  entirely  opposed 
and  voted  against  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting. 

James  Hickey,  Clerk.i 


1  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Record,  Palo  Alto  County,  i,  pp.  86-88,  county  auditor's 
office. 


APPENDIX  C 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  board  of  super- 
visors of  Palo  Alto  County  and  forwarded  to  Eepresentative  E.  J.  Harts- 
horn, Wednesday,  February  4,  1874: 
To  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa: — 

Your  petitioners,  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Palo  Alto  County,  Iowa, 
would  respectfully  represent  to  your  honorable  body  that  owing  to  the 
extremely  wet  weather  and  destruction  by  grasshoppers,  a  great  number  of 
the  citizens  of  this  county  are  in  destitute  circumstances  and  are  unable  to 
procure  food,  clothing  or  seed  to  sow  for  the  coming  season.  Your  peti- 
tioners would  further  represent  that  they  are  without  means  or  authority 
by  law  and  are  wholly  unable  to  provide  adequate  relief  for  such  a  wide- 
spread calamity  and  that  unless  aid  is  procured  in  some  manner,  the  pros- 
perity and  well  being  of  this  portion  of  the  state  will  be  materially  af- 
fected and  its  development  greatly  retarded.  Therefore  your  petitioners 
would  humbly  ask  your  honorable  body  to  make  an  appropriation  of 
$5000.00  for  the  benefit  of  the  destitute  in  this  county,  and  to  make  such 
enactments  as  shall  enable  the  Board  of  Supervisors  to  distribute  the  same 
as  shall  seem  just  and  proper  and  for  the  best  interests  of  the  county  or 
that  you  will  furnish  relief  in  such  other  manner  or  under  such  other  regu- 
lations as  may  seem  proper,  for  the  relief  of  this  county,  and  in  further- 
ance of  the  future  prosperity  thereof  and  to  the  honor  and  well  being  of 
the  whole  state.  Alexander  Gownie,  Chmn. 

Attest:  W.  H.  H.  Booth,  Auditor.i 


1  Minutes  and  Supervisors'  Record,    Palo  Alto  County,   no.   1,  p.   347. 


APPENDIX  D 

Abstract  of  election  returna  Palo  Alto  County  election,  October  13, 
1874:  For  district  attorney,  Geo.  B.  McCarty  308;  M.  Wakefield  175.  For 
the  herd  law  320,  against  76.i 

The  Election  Kegister  no.  1,  p.  222,  in  the  office  of  the  auditor  of  Palo 
Alto  County  shows  that  the  proposition  of  restraining  stock  carried,  the 
official  vote  being  335  for  and  148  against. 

Advertisement  by  McCarty  &  Hartshorn,  * '  Iowa  Land  Office.  Several  thou- 
sand acres  of  choice  land  for  sale  at  $2.50  to  $5.00  per  acre. ' '  2 

Report  of  Teachers'  Institute  Friday  and  Saturday,  September  11  and 
12,  1874.3 

"  Fitzgerald's  store  is  on  wheels  and  en  route  to  the  new  town."* 

"  The  Lake  Shore  House  is  being  thoroughly  re-fitted  and  enlarged  and 
will  be  opened  in  about  ten  days. ' '  5 

"  Grand  Ball  at  Roper's  Hall  on  the  29th.  Free  carriages  to  and  from 
the  Valley  House. ' '  « 

"  P.  Joyce  is  waiting  anxiously  for  his  store  building,  which  is  out  run- 
ning a  race  with  that  of  Jas.  Fitzgerald  from  the  old  town  to  the  new.  At 
present  Fitz  is  a  few  yards  ahead. ' '  ? 


1  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  20,  Thursday,  October  22,  1874. 

2  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  20,   Thursday,  October  22,  1874. 

3  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  20,   Thursday,  October  22,  1874. 

4  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  20,  Thursday,  October  22,  1874. 

5  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  20,  Thursday,  October  22,  1874. 

6  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  20,  Thursday,  October  22,  1874. 

7  Palo  Alto  Pilot,  vol.  i,  no.  21,   October  29,   1874. 


APPENDIX  E 

"Prospectus  of  Palo  Alto  Democrat 

' '  On  or  before  the  first  of  November,  1869,  the  undersigned  will  issue  at 
Soda  Bar,  Palo  Alto  County,  Iowa,  an  Independent  Democratic  Newspaper 
bearing  the  above  title. 

' '  The  Democrat  will  be  a  faithful  and  impartial  expositor  of  the  natural 
advantages,  resources  and  progress  of  the  county  in  which  it  is  published,  and 
an  advocate  of  the  social,  social  political  and  financial  interests  of  North- 
western Iowa. 

* '  Bound  by  no  clique  and  controlled  by  no  faction,  the  Democrat  will 
assume  that  conservative,  yet  progressive,  stand  on  the  political  questions 
of  the  day,  calculated  to  redeem  our  country  from  the  thraldom,  oppression 
and  misrule  which  the  unlimited  power  of  the  Eepublican  party  has  wielded 
in  the  interests  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many.  In  short  its  watch- 
word will  be  Eetrenchment  and  Kef  orm,  and  will  labor  with  unswerving  fidel- 
ity for  the  restoration  of  principles  and  the  inauguration  of  measures  cal- 
culated to  secure  to  all  classes  of  our  people  those  rights  and  privileges  which 
the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions  inspire  and  national  dignity  and  our  common 
manhood  demands. 

"James  P.  White, 
"Editor  and  Publisher. '' 
Terms  of  sub.  were  2.00  per  year 
1.00  six  mos.  1 


1  The  original  of  this  Prospectus  is  owned  by  Tom  White,  Whittemore,  Iowa. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Acker,  John,  96 

Acker,  Hud.,  96 

Acknowledgement  for  help  in  writ- 
ing this  history,  9 

Acres,  William  E.,  98 

Adamson,  P.  C,  99 

Advance,  Palo  Alto,  published  in 
1870,  90;  printed  at  Humboldt  or 
Algona,  91;  description  of,  93,  94; 
published  in  old  town,  119 

Advance,  Palo  Alto,  93,  description 
of,  93,  94;  published  in  old  town, 
119 

Agricultural  Society,  organized,  140 

Aldrich,  Charles,  remembers  frac- 
tured Indian  skull,  29;  letter  from, 
quoted,  66  note 

Allan,  C.  T.,  buys  threshing  machine, 
91,  102 

Allen,  H.  T.,  102 

Algona,  29;  mail  service  from,  54; 
volunteers  for  northern  brigade, 
76;  railroad  ended,  trading  point, 
90;  freight  line,  90;  Palo  Alto 
Democrat  published  at,  90;  stage 
line  through,  101;  teaming  to, 
103;  railroad  to,  117;  base  of  sup- 
plies for  Emmetsburg,  117;  rail- 
road builds  Westward,  123;  rail- 
road terminus  at,  141,  142 

Algona,  Upper  Bes  Moines  Eepubli- 
can,  cited,  14  note;  cited  55  note; 
cited  60  note 

Amos,  William,  147 

Amos  &  Gray,  147 

American  character,  developed  on  the 
frontier,  10 

American  Historical  Association,  an- 
nual report  1893;  cited  10  note 


Anderson,  Peter,  99,  100 

Anderson,  G.  S.,  elected  Surveyor, 
1868,  Appendix  A 

Andrews,  L.  F.,  article  in  Des 
Moines  Eegister  &  Leader,  cited, 
29  note 

Annals  of  Iowa,  cited,  12  note;  cited 
31  note;  cited  34  note;  cited  36 
note;  cited,  39  nite;  cited,  41  note 

Antelope,  often  seen  by  settlers,  24 

Anthony,  John  A.,  settled  near  Lost 
Island  Lake,  100;  kept  Lost  Island 
post-office,  100;  headquarters  for 
stage  line,  101 

Appelby,  George,  120 

Armstrong,  A.  J.,  elected  treasurer, 
1893,  Appendix  A;  elected  treas- 
urer, 1895,  Appendix  A 

Aristotle,  62 

Ashley,  Levi,  came  to  county,  85 

Ayrshire,  founding  of  town  of,  154; 
history  of,  97,  154 

Ayrshire  Chronicle,  cited  97  note 

Bachman,  De.  E.  W.,  148;  elected 

superintendent,  1883,  Appendix  A 
Badger  Creek,  45 
Badgrow,  G.  R.,  113 
Bagley,  Edward,   147 
Baker,    David   G.,    came   to    county, 

102;    Diary    of    Experiences,    102 
Baker,    J.    C,    102;    first    president 

county  fair,  140 
Ballard,  S.  W.,  came  to  county,  96; 

portrait,  88 
Ballard,  Charles,  driving  stage,  89 
Banwart,  settlement,  147 
Bancroft,  29 
Barnard,  E.  T.,  96 


172 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Bargstrom,  Lars,  101 
Barker,  M.  W.,  came  to  county,  96 
Barringer,  Cleyborn,  101 
Barringer,  Emmet,  101 
Barringer,  Lyman,  101 
Barnum,  L.  C,  102 
Bart,  J.,  came  to  county,  96 
Bassett,    Miss,    instructor    in    Insti- 
tute, 138 
Bates,   Thomas,  149 
Bates  &  Hagedon,  start  Palo   Alto 
Patriot,    119  J    dissolution    of    the 
firm  of,  119  note 
Baum,  Henry,  151 
"Black  Friday,"  137 
Blackford,   John   E.,   representative, 

71 
Blair,    Miss   Maria,   acts   as   deputy 
county  superintendent,  138;   mar- 
ries George  B.  McCarty,  138  note 
Blairgowrie,  149 
Blizzard,  described,  102 
Beach,  George  H.,  98 
Bearss,  N.  D.,  builds  first  building 
in  old  town,   108;    description  of 
building,  108,  109,  113 
Beck,   A.   P.,   98 
Beck,  Douglas,  98 

Benton  county,  Iowa,  15;  Mrs.  Car- 
ter and  Ben  come  from,  17 
Bennett,  J.  C,  worked  on  Pilot,  119; 
describes  Pilot   office,   120;   state- 
ment  of,   cited,    120   note;    state- 
ment of  cited,  127;  elected  super- 
intendent,  138;   Appendix  A 
Bergeson,  B.  J.,  elected  representa- 
tive from  Palo  Alto  County,  1906, 
Appendix  A 
Bickle,  John  P.,  came  to  county,  83; 
Biekle  and  Jacobs  put  up  hay,  82 
Big  Island  Lake,   signs   of   Indians 

at,  35 
Board  of  Supervisors,  settlement  of 
Court  House  difficulty  of,  by.  Ap- 


pendix    B;     issuing     depreciated 
warrants,  93 

Boardman,  H.  R.,  102 

Boddy,  John,  came  to  county,  97 

Boone,  Carter  hauls  lumber  from,  56 

Booth,  H.  T.,  came  to  county,  96 

Booth,  William  H.  H.,  auditor,  office 
of,  92;  came  to  county,  96;  elect- 
ed auditor,  1871,  Appendix  A; 
elected  auditor,  1881,  Appendix 
A ;  elected  auditor,  1883,  Appendix 
A ;  elected  auditor,  1885,  Appendix 
A 

Border  plain,  steam  saw  mill  brought 
from,  85 

Border  Brigade,  description  of,  ac- 
tivities of,  76,  77,  78,  79;  article 
on,  by  Captain  Ingham,  cited,  76 
note,  77  note,  79  note;  recollec- 
tions of,  participants  in,  cited, 
76  note 

Bradgate,  stage  route  to,  88 

Bradley,  B.,  102 

Bridge,  early  specifications  of,  69, 
70 

Briezee,    trials    with    expedition    in 

crossing  Cylinder  creek,  39,  40 
Brown,  Ed,  154 
Brown,  George,  came  to  county,  95, 

96 
Brown,    M.    L.,    came    to    old    town, 
115;    candidate  for  county  treas- 
urer, 94;   treasurer,   office  of,   92; 
statement     of,     cited,     127;     first 
mayor  of  Emmetsburg,  133;  dele- 
gate   to    convention,    140;    elected 
treasurer,      1871,      Appendix     A; 
elected  treasurer,  1873,  Appendix 
A;    elected    treasurer,    1875,    Ap- 
pendix A;    portrait,  120 
Brown,  P.  S.,  came  to  old  town,  115 
Brown,   W.   J.,   comes  to   old   town, 

115;  portrait,  120 
Brown  &  Sons,  154 


INDEX 


173 


Brennan,  James,  came  to  county,  85, 
98 

Brennan,  John,  101 

Brooks,  Kev.  of  Livermore,  148 

Brigade,  northern  border,  descrip- 
tion of,  activities  of,  76,  77,  78, 
79;  article  on,  by  Captain  Ingham, 
cited,  76  note,  77  note,  79  note; 
recollections  of,  participants  in, 
cited,  76  note 

Buchacher,  William,  came  to  county, 
96 

Buena  Vista  County,  117,  140 

Buffalo,  seen  by  early  settlers,  24 

Burkholder,  Captain,  perishes  from 
cold,  36,  41,  bones  found  years 
after,  36 

Bulls  Ferry,  45 

Burlingame,  D.  W.,  elected  clerk. 
1882,  Appendix  A 

Burlington,  Cedar  Eapids  &  North- 
ern By.,  terminus  of,  141;  builds 
through  Palo  Alto  county,  142; 
fight  with  Milwaukee,  142 ;  race  in 
construction  of  roads,  133,  142, 
143,  144,  149;  builds  to  West 
Bend,  146;  built  to  Rodman,  148; 
builds  to  Osgood,  149;  builds  to 
Graettinger,  149 

Burlington,  first  settlement  of,  12 

Bumell,  H.  L.,  arrives  in  old  town, 
115;  forms  partnership  with  Har- 
rison, 115;  political  canvass,  94 

Burnham,  Ormsby  &  Company,  bank 
of,  established,  119 

Burns,  Lawrence,  came  to  county, 
84,  121 

Burns  bridge,  48 

Bursell,  Frank,  96 

Butler,  U.,  102 

Cabins,  of  first  settlers,  23 
Cahill,  Thomas,  settled  in  county,  48 
Cahill,  county  seat  speculator,  58 
Call,  Ambrose  A.,  pioneer  cabin  of. 


14 ;  historical  sketches  by,  14  note ; 
sketch  of  early  history,   in  "His- 
tory  of  Kossuth   County,"   cited, 
29  note;    early  days  in  the   west 
fork,  cited,   50  note,  55  note,   60 
note,  61  note 
Call,  Asa  C,  pioneer  cabin  of,  14 
Call's  Addition,  107;  houses  at,  120 
Cammick,  W.  H.,  came  to  county,  96 
Campbell,  Thomas,  settled  in  county, 
44 ;  putting  up  hay  with  Jacobs,  81, 
82;    elected  justice   of  the  peace, 
1861,  Appendix  A;  electel  sheriff, 
1863,  Appendix  A 
Campbell,  Joel,  154 
Campbell,     Guy,     elected     surveyor, 

1908,  Appendix  A 
Caner,  W.  H.,  110 
Carpenter,  Cyrus  C,  joins  relief  ex- 
pedition, 34;  county  seat  commis- 
sioner, 60;   referred  to,  66  note; 
county  seat  commissioner,  67 
Carpenter,  J.  M.,  101 
Carney,  Robert,  Sr.,  came  to  county, 

83,  84 
Carney,  W.  T.,  came  to  county,  84 
Carney,  Robert,  Jr.,  came  to  county, 

84 
Carney,  John,  came  to  county,  84 
Carney,  E.  M.,  elected  clerk,   1906, 
Appendix  A;   elected  clerk,  1908, 
Appendix  A 
Carroll,  Dennis,  came  to  county,  84 
Carroll,  Patrick,  came  to  county,  84 
Carter,   A.    B.,   interview   with,   and 
letter   from,    15    note;    still   owns 
old  homestead,  16  note;  comes  to 
county,   17;    tells  experiences,   17, 
18,    19;    interview  and   letter   of, 
19  note,  20;  statement  that  Sleepy 
Eye  camped  at  Crowley 's,  32  note ; 
statement  of  cited,  44  note;  state- 
ment of,  cited  53  note;  statement 
of,  56  note  cited;  school  director 
of  West  Bend,  56  note;  facts  as 


174 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


to  first  election  given  by,  64  note; 
appointed  sheriff,  72;  first  volun- 
teer to  Civil  War,  75;  service  of, 
in  war,  75;  letter  from  cited,  75 
note;  secures  name  of  West  Bend, 
146;  elected  recorder,  1866,  Ap- 
pendix A;  portrait,  17 

Carter,  Ann,  44 

Carter,  Elizabeth,  44 

Carter,  Mrs.,  comes  to  the  county, 
17 

Carter,  R.  Fayette,  first  settled  in 
Palo  Alto  county,  15 ;  successful 
vote  for  coroner,  71 ;  joins  north- 
ern border  brigade,  77 ;  second  ser- 
geant, 77;  elected  coroner,  1859, 
Appendix  A 

Carter,  William,  settled  at  West 
Bend,  15;  brings  rest  of  family, 
17,  20,  42,  43;  daughters  of,  44; 
services  at  cabin  of,  56 ;  hauls  lum- 
ber for  school  house,  56;  voting  at 
cabin  of,  64;  postmaster  at,  re- 
ferred to,  81;  elected  county  sup- 
erintendent,   1863,   Appendix   A 

Carter  &  Evans,  location  chosen  by, 
15,  16;  first  experiences  of,  17;  re- 
ferred to,  42 

Gates,  T.  J.,  98 

Catholic  Church,  first  services,  56; 
first  church  in  old  town,  117;  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  117;  rebuilt,  117; 
growth  of,  117,  118 

Cavanaugh,  county  seat  speculator, 
58 

Cedar  Rapids,  chronological  history 
of,  cited,  53  note 

Cedar  Rapids  'Republican,  cited,  53 
note 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa  Falls  &  North- 
western Town  Lot  Co.,  150 

Census  of  Palo  Alto  county,  1863, 
1873,  81 

Cherokee  County,  140 

Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  R.  R., 


131,  133;  fight  for  land  grant, 
141,  142;  builds  through  county, 
142;  builds  branch  north  from 
Emmetsburg,  142 ;  construction 
race  with  Burlington,  142,  143, 
144;  construction  race  through 
Osgood,  149 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  R.  R., 
133;  construction  race  with  Mil- 
waukee,  142,  143,  144,  149 

Christensen,  L.  C,  99 

Churches,  of  modern  Palo  Alto  coun- 
ty, 157 

Circus,  first  in  county,  90 

Civil  War,  issues  of,  74;  Palft  Alto 
county,  in,  74,  75 ;  substitutes  from 
Palo  Alto  county,  75,  76;  delays 
western  settlement,  80;  conces- 
sions to  soldiers  of,  80 

Claer,  Patrick,  154 

Claer,  P.  J.,  154 

Claer,  Tom,  154 

Clark,  110 

Clark,  C.  E.,  elected  clerk,  1890,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1892,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Clarke,  George  L.,  98 

Clark,  Malachi,  cabin  entered  by  In- 
dians, 29 

Clark,  William  E.,  makes  contract  to 
build  Paoli  court  house  and  school 
house,  68;  contract  for  court 
house,  86;  difiieulties  over  swamp 
lands,  139 

Clemens,  James,  came  to  county,  96 

Clermont,  Iowa,  118  note 

Coakley,     William,     elected     sheriff, 
1903,  Appendix  A 
1906,  Appendix  A 

Colburn,  L.  B.,  97 

Collins,  T.  D.,  97 

Collins,  John,  97 

Collins,  Dan,  97 

Comer,  F.,  came  to  county,  96 

Compromise,  in  the  Civil  War,  74 


INDEX 


nt 


Confederates,  75 

Congregational  Church  of  Emmets- 
biirg,  organization  of,  118 

Conlon,  Thomas,  98 

Conners,  Pat,  buys  threshing  ma- 
chine, 91 

Consigny  farm,  60 

Conway  family,  101 

Conway,  Jerry,  149 

Cooley,  L.  M.,  102 

Coonan,  Martin,  settled  in  county, 
53;  method  of  threshing,  54;  post- 
master at  Emmetsburg,  55,  58; 
candidate  for  county  clerk,  64; 
candidate  for  county  judge,  71 ; 
vote  for,  71;  elected  sheriff,  73; 
distributes  amunition,  77;  builds 
log  cabin,  107;  builds  brick  house, 
107;  tavern  of,  107,  108,  109; 
Coonan 's  house  described.  111, 
112;  family  of,  113;  travelers  at, 
113,  114;  hospitality  of  wife  of,. 
114;  plats  town  of  Emmetsburg, 
119,  121;  buildings  on  plat  of, 
124;  old  town  grows  along  road 
of,  119;  plats  old  town,  123;  offers 
inducements  to  stay  in  old  town, 
127,  128 ;  elected  sheriff,  1860,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  surveyor,  1869, 
Appendix  A;  elected  recorder, 
1876,  Appendix  A;  portrait,  53 

Coonan,  Catherine,  came  to  county, 
53;   portrait,  53 

Coonan,  Martin,  Jr.,  recollections  of, 
cited  54  note;  113 

Coonan,  Will,  113 

Coonan,  Dan,  113 

Coonan,  Tom,  113 

Coonan,  John,  113 

Corbin,  Austin,  owns  townsite,   123, 

124,  125 
Corbin   &   Lawler   plat   of    Emmets- 
burg, referred  to,  115  note;  plan- 
ned, 124,  125;  completed,  125 


Corcoran,  Roger,  settled  with  Crow- 
leys',  26 

Corry,  F.  M.,  vote  for  representative, 
71 

Council  Bluffs,  fort  erected  at,  12; 
Catholic  mission  established  at,  12 

County  Fair,  organized,  140 

County  Judge,  importance  of  office 
of,  65;  powers  and  duties  of,  65, 
66;  head  of  local  government,  66; 
Hickey,  Jas.,  elected  first  from 
Palo  Alto  county,  66;  contracts 
with  Clark  for  court  house,  86 

County  officers,  scattered  location  of 
in  1872,  92 

County  Seat,  the  dream  of  the  pro- 
moter, 58 ;  in  western  country,  58  ; 
in  Palo  Alto  county,  attempts  to 
locate  in,  58,  59,  60,  61;  advant- 
ages of  location  of,  13 1 ;  failure 
of  speculative,  107;  changed  to 
Emmetsburg,  133 

County  towns,  rise  of,  145 ;  location 
determined  by  railroad,  145 

County  warrants,  depreciation  of,  92, 
93,  94,  95;  buying  for  specula- 
tion, 93,  94;  redeemed,  94,  95 

Court,  in  old  Paoli  court  house,  60, 
69;  abandonment  of,  69 

Court  house  at  Paoli,  contract  for 
building  of,  86;  assigned,  86;  un- 
finished, 86,  suit  brought  for  dam- 
ages, 86;  settlement  of.  Appendix 
B;  new,  built,  133;  Palo  Alto 
County,  picture   of,  136 

Court  House  square,  at  Emmetsburg, 
procured,  124,  133 

Coverdale,  Lieutenant,  commanding 
company  in  border  brigade,  77 

Coyle,  Charles,  buys  McFarland 
quarter,  43;  sells  back  to  McFar- 
land, 43 

Coyle,  Daniel  F.,  Judge,  43 

Crisman,    S.    P.,    elected     treasurer, 


176 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


1903,   Appendix  A;   elected  treas- 
urer, 1901,  Appendix  A 

Crooks,  Bill,  settled  in  county,  85 

Crookston,  Minnesota,  142 

Cross,  Fred,  came  to  county,  96 

Crowder,  J.  G.,  came  to  county,  84 

Crowley,  Jerry,  Sr.,  settled  in  Palo 
Alto  county,  25;  first  experiences 
of,  in  county,  25;  Indians  camped 
near  cabin  of,  25;  candidate  for 
coroner,  64;  vote  as  candidate  for 
coroner,  71;  joins  northern  border 
brigade,  77;  recollections  of  cited, 
76  note,  121;  elected  drainage 
commissioner,  1861,  Appendix  A 

Crowley,  Michael  H.,  description  of 
Indians,  25,  26;  interview  with 
cited,  26  note;  statement  in  re 
gard  to  Indians,  32  note;  stae- 
ment  of,  cited,  53  note ;  early  spell- 
ing book,  55;  statement  of,  cited 
55  note;  statement  cited,  85  note; 
portrait,   24 

Crowley,  J.  P.,  25;  dealings  Mith 
Corcoran,  26;  portrait,  24 

Crowley,  John,  25 

Crowley,  Katie  and  Ellen,  25 

Cruikshank,  John,  101;  settled  in 
Lost  Island  Township,  101 

CuUen,  Alex,  elected  sheriff,  1901, 
Appendix  A;  elected  sheriff,  1908, 
Appendix  A 

Cullen,  Terrence,  99 

CuUen,  Thomas,  97 

Cullen,  William  E.,  came  to  county, 
85,  121,  139;  elected  clerk,  1863, 
Appendix  A;  elected  recorder, 
1870,  Appendix  A;  elected  clerk, 
1880,  A^ypendix  A 

Culver,  110 

Currans,  James,  101 

Curlew,  founding  of  town  of,  153; 
history  of,   153 

Cylinder  creek,  trials  of  expedition 


iu    crossing,    37,    38,    39,    40,    48; 

freighting  through,  90,  154 
Cylinder,  founding  of  town  of,  154; 

history  of,  154,  155 
Cylinder  township,  64 

Dakota  (City),  W.  D.  Powers  stays 
at,  20;  lives  in  cave  at,  20;  jour- 
ney to,  for  provisions,  21,  29,  44, 
118;  freight  line  to,  90;  John  Me- 
Cormick  at,  45;  stage  route  to, 
88,  89 

Damon,  Joseph,  101 

Dangers,  to  pioneer  families,  106 

Daniels,  M.  D.,  sheriff,  oflSce  of,  92 
builds  building  in  old  town,  109 
description  of  building,  109,  113 
elected  sheriff,  1871,  Appendix  A 

Davenport,  named,  12 

Davidson,  Wesley,  97;  elected  sher- 
iff, 1899,  Appendix  A;  elected 
sheriff,  1897,  Appendix  A 

Davidson,  J.  P.,  97 

Davidson,  F.  C,  elected  attorney, 
1904,  Appendix  A;  elected  attor- 
ney, 1902,  Appendix  A;  elected 
Representative  from  Palo  Alto 
county,  1908,  Appendix  A 

Davis,  Thomas  C,  brings  saw-mill 
to  county,  108;  set  up  saw-mill, 
108,  110,  112,  113;  postmaster, 
129;  builds  building  in  new  town, 
129 

Davies,  John  L.,  county  surveyor, 
vote  for,  72 

Davies,  John  C,  settled  in  county, 
52;  early  experiences  of,  52;  al- 
leged connection  with  horse 
thieves,  52 

Dawson,  Thomas,  came  to  county, 
54;  buys  yoke  of  cattle,  82 

Day,  A.  L.,  County  Siiperintendent 
of  Schools,  138;  starts  priva.te 
school,  138;  elected  superintend- 
ent, 1873,  Appendix  A 


INDEX 


177 


Democrat  (old),  no  copies  to  bo 
found,  8;  first  paper  in  county, 
90;  edited  by  James  P.  White,  90; 
published  by  James  P.  White,  119; 
prospectus  of,  Appendix  E 

Democrat,  Soda  Bar,  prospectus  of, 
Appendix  E 

Democrats,  early  settlers  all,  64; 
vote  on  state  ticket,  71;  vote  on 
presidential  election,  1860,  72,  73; 
election  of  1870,  92,  93,  94 

Democrat  (present),  91,  94 

Des  Moines,  Indian  prisoners  on  waj' 
to,  49 

Des  Moines  River,  surveyors  cross, 
28;  Lott  returns  to,  28,  14;  West 
Bend  settlement  on,  15;  settlers 
on  west  branch  of,  22;  camp  on, 
23,  35;  west  fork  of,  41,  42,  58; 
prairie  fire  jumps,  82,  107;  saw- 
mill at  old  town,  108 

Des  Moines  Register  4"  Leader,  cited 
29  note,  114  note 

Des  Moines  "Valley  Railroad  Co.,  land 
commissioner  for,  92 

Des  Moines  River  Railroad,  project- 
ed,  141 

Des  Moines  &  Fort  Dodge  Railroad, 
builds  through  to  Ruthven,  146; 
built  to  Mallard,  152;  built  to 
Curlew,  153;  built  to  Ayrshire, 
154 

Devil's  Lake,  Indians  capture  Pow- 
ers at,  21 

De  Witt,  John,  came  to  county,  83 

Dickinson  county,   settlement   at,  30 

Dickinson,  Z.  F.,  150;  portrait,  88 

Diekerman,  G.  L.,  97 

Ditch,  Dan,  83 

Dodge,  Augustus  C,  vote  for  govern- 
or, 71 

Dodge,  General,  125 

Dolliver,  J.  P.,  lodged  at  Mahan's, 
50 

Domek,  Adam,  98 


Donlon,  P.  H.,  elected  superintend- 
ent, 1887,  Appendix  A;  elected 
superintendent,  1889,  Appendix  A ; 
elected  superintendent,  1891,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Donohue,  Mrs.  Anna,  152 

Donovan,  Anna,  elected  superintend- 
ent, 1897,  Appendix  A;  elected 
superintendent,  1899,  Appendix  A; 
elected  superintendent,  1901,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Donovan,  John,  freighted,  90;  set- 
tles on  section  26,  Emmetsburg 
township,  99 

Dooley  farm,  60 

Doran,  John,  farm  referred  to,  51 ; 
came  to  county,  84;  describes 
early  experiences  in  county,  84; 
letter  of  cited,  84  note,  121 

Doran,  Dan,  121 

Dorweiller  family,  settles  in  Kos- 
suth county,  83 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  votes  for,  73 

Downey,  Thomas,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22;  came  to  county,  54; 
voting  at  cabin  of,  63 

Downey,  Ellen,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Downey,  Elias,  campaign  for  James 
Hickey,  64 

Dows,  Col.,  146 

Doyle,  Martin,  101 

Drennan,  William  T.,  98 

Drybread,  George  G.,  147 

Dublin,  Ireland,  118  note 

Dubuque,  Julian,  purchases  land  and 
starts  mines,  12  note 

Dubuque,  mining  settlement  of,  12, 
109 

Dudgeon,  F.,  96 

Duhn,  L.  P.,  99 

Duhn,  J.  S.,  99 

Duncan,  Walt,  130 

Duncan,   C.   S.,   came   to   Palo   Alto 


178 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


county,  100;  early  experiences  in, 
100;  letter  cited,  100  note 

Duncan's  band,  in  old  town,  121 

Duncombe,  John  F.,  captain  of  Co. 
B  of  relief  expedition,  33;  ad- 
dress of  cited,  41  note;  vote  for 
senator,  71;  employed  as  attorney 
for  county,  86;  at  Shippeys,  joins 
command  after  storm,  40 

Dunn,  John  L.,  elected  surveyor,  54; 
elected  surveyor,  1859,  Appendix 
A 

Dyer,  Sam,  98 

East  Okoboji  Lake,  143 

Easton,  S.  A.,  153 

Egan,  Thomas,  98 

Egyptians,  plague  of  locusts,  136 

Election,  first  in  county,  63 ;  first 
regular,  63,  64;  election  of,  1870, 
92,  93,  94;  election  of  1871,  93,  94 

Elliott,  James  B.,  98 

Elliot,  John  A,,  land  commissioner 
for  Des  Moines  Valley  Railway 
Co.,  93 

Ellington  township,  school  for,  96; 
Ellington  township,  first  settlers 
in,  96,  100,  152 

Elk  and  deer,  16,  24;  hunting,  by 
Carters,  19 

Elson,  A.,  came  to  county,  96 

Emmet,  Robert,  Emmetsburg  named 
after,  59 

Emmet  county,  59 

Emmetsburg  township,  first  settlers 
in,  23,  98 

Emmetsburg,  first  postoffice  called, 
54;  speculative  town  of,  laid  out, 
58,  59;  named  after  Robert  Em- 
met, 59;  abandonment  of  staked 
town,  59;  residence  of  volunteers 
in  northern  brigade,  77,  89; 
freight  line  to,  90;  early  news- 
papers published  at,  91;  staging 
at,  88,  89;   driving  stage  to,  89; 


stake  town  of,  108;  travel  to  old 
town  of,  108;  old  town  of,  early 
arrivals  at,  108,  109;  first  houses 
on  Call's  addition  of,  120;  own- 
ers of  town  plat  of,  123 ;  negotia- 
tions for  platting  of,  123,  124, 
125;  preparations  for  removal  to, 
126,  127;  platting  of,  127;  moving 
of,  128-131;  growth  of,  132-134; 
sources  for  later  history  of,  cited, 
134  note;  difficulties  in  laying  out, 
127;  railroad  building  at,  141- 
144;  modern  city  of,  157,  158; 
picture  of  old  tow^n,  107;  picture 
of  new  town,  1878,  123;  in  1881, 
picture  of,  129 ;  the  preseni;  city  of, 
129 

Emmetsburg   National   Bank,    129 

Emmetsburg  Democrat,  Christmas 
souvenir  edition  of,  cited,  134  note 

Emerich,  H.,  154 

Enterprise,  Monthly,  91;  no  copies 
left,  8 

Erstad,  C.  O.,  98 

Erstad,  A.  C,  98 

Estherville,  volunteers  for  northern 
brigade,  76;  border  brigade  sta- 
tioned at,  77;  mill  at  for  grinding 
wheat,  83;  stage  line  to,  88;  Palo 
Alto  Democrat  published  at,  90; 
freighting  to,  90,  139,  142,  143 

Evans,  Jeremiah,  settled  with  family 
at  West  Bend,  15,  20,  140 

Evans  cabin,  relief  expedition  at, 
33 

Evans,  Mrs.,  caught  Indians  pilfer- 
ing, 16,  17 

Evans,  James,  147 

Exodus,  X:15,  cited,  136  note 

Falb,  Feed,  98 
Falb,  blacksmith  shop,   147 
Fahnestock,  Preston,  151 
Fair,  county,  organized,  140 


INDEX 


179 


Fairfield  township,  some  settlers  in, 
97;  settlers  in,  98 

Fargo,  North  Dakota,  132 

Farm  land,  present  value  of,  in 
county,  156 

Farmers  Savings  Bank,  129 

Fayette  county,  Palo  Alto  as  part 
of,  62;   Fayette  county,  118  note 

Fenn,  W.  B.,  149 

Fern  Valley,  some  settlers  in,  97 

Fern  Valley  township,  43;  William 
Shippey  settles  tn,  48;  postoffice 
at,  55;  religious  service  in,  56; 
settlers  in,  85;  staging  at,  89, 
148 

Fellows,  .J.  B.,  101 

Fehlhauer,  J.  C  ,  148 

Fiddlers'  green,  stage  route  by,  88 

First  oflScial  newspaper,  91 

First  Congregational  Church  of  Em- 
metsburg,   organization   of,   118 

First  National  Bank  Building,  133 

Fish,  Joseph,  came  to  county,  96 

Fisk,  Melvin,  153 

Fisher,  ran  stage,  88 

Fitzgerald,  James,  genial  merchant 
of  old  town,  116;  stories  of,  116, 
117;  opens  store  at  old  town,  115; 
refuses  to  move,  129,  130;  finally 
moves,  131,  131  note.  Appendix  D 

Fleming,  Michael,  101 

Fleming,  John,  101 

Fort  Belknap,  20 

Fort  Clark,  established,  13 ;  name 
changed  to  Fort  Dodge,  13 

Fort  Des  Moines,  built,  12,  13 

Fort  Dodge,  settlers  follow  military 
road  from,  15;  tedious  journey 
from,  17;  trip  to  by  Carter,  17; 
returned  from,  18;  many  trips  to, 
18,  22,  23;  provisions  obtained 
from,  24,  25;  trading  furs  at,  25; 
Fort  Dodge,  name,  12;  change 
from  Fort  Clark  to,  13;  troops 
move  from,  to  Fort  Ridgely,   13 ; 


town  of,  laid  out,  13;  country 
around,  13;  stories  carried  back 
to,  14;  establishment  of,  28,  29; 
settlers  seek  refuge  at,  32;  news- 
of  massacre  stirs,  33 ;  relief  expedi- 
tion recruited  at,  33;  officers  from, 
33 ;  marches  from,  34 ;  McCormick's 
journey  from,  45;  mail  routes 
from,  54;  Indian  prisoners  on  way 
to,  49;  travel  from  Spirit  Lake, 
50;  William  Murphy  worked  at, 
51,  52;  speculators  from,  58;  pe- 
tition sent  to,  63;  election  news 
from,  72;  enlistments  at,  75; 
school  books  procured  at,  55; 
speculators  return  to,  59;  home- 
steaders make  proof  at,  80;  home- 
stead law  incentive  to  settlement, 
80;  trading  point,  82,  85;  stag- 
ing at,  89;  homesteaders  selecting 
land  at,  99,  109;  difficulties  of 
hauling  supplies  from,  110,  111; 
terminus  railway,  117;  stage  route 
from,  117 

Fort  Madison,  first  settlement  of,  12 

Fort  Riley,  20 

Fort  Ridgely,  troops  move  from  Fort 
Dodge  to,  13,  14,  15;  soldiers 
march  to,  20 

Foly,  D.,  101 

Ford,  Judge,   140 

Forest  City,  148 

Forrest,  P.   C,  98 

Frame,  J.  R.,  97 

Franklin,  B.,  came  to  county,  83, 
147;  elected  auditor,  1875,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Franklin's,  stage  route  by,  88 

Fraziers',  56 

Freeman,  James,    101 

Freedom  township,   125 

Fries,  George,  came  to  county,  96 

Fritz,  M.  L.,  149 

Fritz,  Mart,  149 


180 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Frontier  life,  discloses  beginnings  of 

society,  10 
Frontier,  westward  march  of,  10 
Funkley,  P.  H.,  101 

Galbbaith,  came  to  county,  83 

Galleger,  John,  99 

Galleger,  Pat,  99 

Gallegher,  Jack,  147 

Gallup,  A,  D.,  builds  the  Valley 
House  at  old  town,  115 

Ganzley,  John,  155 

Gappa,  Matt,  98 

Gardener,  Milo,  98 

Garver,  Frank  H.,  articles  on  the  es- 
tablishment and  boundaries  of 
Iowa  counties,  cited,  62  note 

General  Assembly  for  the  state  of 
Iowa,  3rd,  creates  new  counties, 
62;  5th,  laws  cited,  63,  note  3 

Gibbs,  Charles  C,  102 

Gibbs,  Mrs.,  48 

Giddings,  C.  H.,  worked  on  threshing 
machine,  91;  relates  experiences, 
91;  has  picture,  91;  Giddings,  C. 
H.,  150 

Giddings,  H.  F.,  102 

Glenn  farm,  44 

Goeders,  John,  154,  155 

Goff,  Warren,   101 

Goff,  Dwight,   101 

Goldtrap,  came  to  county,  83 

Goodell,  Mr.,   151 

Goodlaxon,  E.,  came  to  county,  96 

Grace,  W.  H.,  came  to  county,  85 

Grace,    Henry,   came   to   county,    85 

Graettinger,  102;  founding  of  town 
of,  150;  history  of,  150,  152 

Grahan,  Michael,  elected  constable, 
73;  elected  constable,  1860,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Granger's  Grove,  expedition  reaches, 
35 

Grass,  luxuriant  growth  of,  in  early 
days,  105 


Grasshoppers,  pest  of,  51;  examples 
of  numbers  of,  51,  105;  devasta- 
tion of,  135;  description  of,  135, 
136;  methods  for  killing,  136;  ef- 
fect on  country,  136,  137 

Gray,  Mark,  148 

Greeley,  Horace,  advice  to  go  west, 
80 

Grethen,  Peter,  came  to  county,  96 

Great  Oak  township,  referred  to,  52 ; 
postoffice  at,  56 ;  early  settlers  in, 
84,  85,  98,  121 

Griffin,  N.  E.,  113 

Griley,  A.,  came  to  county,  96 

Grimes,  Governor,  appoints  agent  to 
protect  the  frontier,  33 

GrofP,  John,  98 

Gross,  D.  C,  came  to  county,  96 

Grout,  LeRoy,  surveys  town  of  Em- 
metsburg,  127;  elected  surveyor, 
1875,  Appendix  A;  elected  survey- 
or, 1877,  Appendix  A;  elected  sur- 
veyor, 1879,  Appendix  A;  elected 
surveyor,  1881,  Appendix  A;  elect- 
ed surveyor,  1883,  Appendix  A; 
elected  surveyor,  1885,  Appendix 
A;  elected  surveyor,  1889,  Api>en- 
dix  A;  elected  surveyor,  1891,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  surveyor,  1893, 
Appendix  A;  elected  surveyor, 
1895,  Appendix  A;  elected  survey- 
or, 1897,  Appendix  A;  elected  sur- 
veyor, 1899,  Appendix  A;  elected 
surveyor,  1901,  Appendix  A;  elect- 
ed surveyor,  1903,  Appendix  A; 
elected  surveyor,  1906,  Appendix  A 

Grier,  David  G.,  came  to  county,  96; 
elected  clerk,  1888,  Appendix  A 

Groves,  C.  G.,  came  to  county,  83 

Grundy  county,  53,  141 

Gue,  history  of  Iowa,  12  note,  14 
note,  34  note,  53  note,  75  note 

Guerdett,  J,  B.,  buys  threshing  ma- 
chine, 91 

Gunderson,  G,,  101 


INDEX 


181 


Hackenburg,  Mr.,  153 

Hais,  Abel,  56 

Hall,  John  D.,  starts  store  in  old 
town,  119;  moves,  130 

Hall,  Hiram,  elected  drainage  com- 
missioner, 1863,  Appendix  A 

Halstead,  D.  H.,  came  to  county,  85 

Hammond,  Eev.  B.  C,  102,  103,  110; 
preaches  for  Union  Church,  118 

Hammond,  S.,  102 

Hampton,  L.  E.,  148 

Hamilton,  G.  M.,  came  to  county,  97 

Hancock  county,  117 

Hand,  John,  99 

Hand,  P.  V.,  elected  auditor,  1897, 
Appendix  A ;  elected  auditor,  1900, 
Appendix  A 

Hansen,  Hans,  98 

Hangon,  Peter,  101 

Hanson,  John  W.,  elected  sheriff, 
1893,  Appendix  A;  elected  sheriff, 
1895,  Appendix  A 

Hard  times,  of  1873,  135-137 

Hare,  Ovid,  97 

Hare,  Myron,  97 

Harriman,  Jacob,  came  to  county,  96 

Harris,  Charles,  101 

Harrison,  Albert  99 

Harrison,  William,  99 

Harrison,  T.  W.,  office  of,  92;  polit- 
ical canvass,  94;  buys  farm, 
99;  statement  of,  cited,  112 
note;  describes  Coonan  hospi- 
tality, 114;  first  came  to  Emmets- 
burg,  114;  decides  to  locate,  115; 
fifty  years  ago  in  Palo  Alto  coun- 
ty, 114  note;  statement  of  cited, 
119;  builds  house  in  Call's  addi- 
tion, 120;  statement  of,  cited,  120 
note;  arrival  of  bride  of,  120; 
statement  of,  cited,  121  note;  at- 
torney for  Lawler  and  Eailroad, 
123,  125;  arranges  for  removal  of 
old  town,  126;  draws  bonds  to 
insure  removal  to  new  town,  126; 


surveys  new  town,  127;  statement 
of,  cited,  127  note;  account  of  be- 
ginning of  new  town  described, 
127  note;  statement  of,  cited,  128 
note;  office  of  moved,  128;  de- 
scribes moving  of  buildings,  129; 
statement  of,  cited,  129  note ;  state- 
ment of,  131  note;  plans  to  name 
town  Merrill,  131,  132;  describes 
selling  of  town  lots,  132;  state- 
ment of,  cited,  132  note ;  appointed 
to  investigate  swamp  lands,  139; 
treasurer  of  county  fair,  140;  del- 
egate to  convention,  140;  portrait, 
88;  elected  surveyor,  1871,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Harrison  &  Bumell,  publish  Advance, 
119 

Harrison  county,  140 

Hartshorn,  E.  J.,  comes  to  old  town, 
115;   forms  partnership  with  Mc- 
Carty,  115;  political  canvass,  94 
builds  house,  120;  letter  of,  cited 
120  note;  statement  of,  cited,  127 
member  of  General  Assembly,  137 
petition   for    relief    forwarded   to 
137;  delegate  to  convention,  140 
on  railroad  committee  of  legisla- 
ture, 141;  describes  railroad  fight, 
141,  142;  letter  of,  cited,  142  note; 
elected  treasurer,  1885,  Appendix 
A;    elected    treasurer,    1887,    Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1894,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1896,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Hartungs,  Eufus  A.,  97 

Harvey,  Colonel,  regiment  of,  75 

Hastings,   Charles,  came  to   county, 
85,  121,  146 

Hatch,    settled    in    Kossuth    county, 
85 

Hathway,  trials  with   expedition    in 
crossing  Cylinder  creek,  39,  40 

Hefley,  John  M.,  came  to  county,  83 ; 
elected   county   judge,    1867,   Ap- 


182 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


pendix    A;    elected    sheriff,    1869, 
Appendix  A 
Helgen,  H.  M.,  elected  clerk,  1898, 
Appendix  A;   elected  clerk,  1900, 
Appendix  A 
Henry,  Wm.  G.,  came  to  county,  95; 
moved  to  Emmetsburg,  95;  elected 
recorder,  1886,  Appendix  A 
Hendersons,  56 

Herd  law,  vote  for,  Appendix  D 
Herrick,  came  to  county,  83 
Harrington,  C.  L.,  came  to  county, 

97 
Herrington,  S.,  came  to  county  97 
Hertley,  Peter,  came  to  county,  96 
Hickey,  James,  joins  Irish  colony, 
25;  moves  across  river,  48;  promi- 
nence of,  48,  49;  Great  Oak  post- 
oflfice  at,  56;  named  from  Oak 
trees,  56;  election  judge,  63;  elect- 
ed county  judge,  64;  facts  as  to 
first  election  given  by,  64  note; 
hospitality  of  home  of,  told  by 
Charles  Aldrieh,  66  note;  swears 
in  other  officers,  66,  67;  orders 
books  for  county,  67;  advertises 
for  bids  for  selection  of  swamp 
lands,  67;  makes  contract  with 
Hood,  67;  makes  contract  with 
Clark  to  build  court  house,  school 
at  Paoli,  68;  issues  proclamation 
for  special  election  to  approve 
swamp  land,  68;  statements  of, 
cited,  67  note;  as  county  judge, 
appoints  clerk,  70  note;  appoints 
assessor,  70  note;  re-elected  county 
judge,  71;  statement  of,  71  note; 
fills  vacancy  in  county  offices,  72; 
clerk,  86;  postoffice,  88;  stag- 
ing, 88,  89;  experiences  in  stage, 
89,  121;  elected  county  judge, 
1858,  Appendix  A;  elected  county 
judge,  1859,  Appendix  A;  elected 
clerk,  1864,  Appendix  A;  elected 
clerk,  1865,  Appendix  A 


Hickey,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James,  por- 
trait, 24 

Hickey  party,  victorious  at  first  elec- 
tion, 64 

Hickey,  Michael  O.,  appointed  clerk, 
70;  acting  county  judge,  72;  coun- 
ty canvasser,  72;  county  surveyor, 
72 

Hickey-McNally,  Mrs.  Maggie,  por- 
trait, 24 

High  Lake,  143 

Highland  township,  settlers  in,   101 

Higley,  John,  98 

Hill,  John,  came  to  county,  97 

Historical  records,  fast  disappearing, 
8 

Historical  sources,  relied  upon  in  this 
book,  8,  9 

Historical  Department  of  Iowa, 
Charles  Aldrieh,  founder  of,  let- 
ter from,  cited,  66  note 

History  of  Kossuth  county,  29  note 

Hodgkinson,  C.  W.,  elected  auditor, 
1893,  Appendix  A ;  elected  auditor, 
1895,  Appendix  A 

Hoffman,  C.  A.,  came  to  county,  96; 
first  secretary  of  county  fair,  140 

Homer,  Iowa,  29 

Homesteaders,  coming  to  county,  95 

Homeseekers,   coming   to   county,   95 

Hood,  Andrew,  joins  relief  expedi- 
tion, 34;  selects  swamp  land,  67, 
68;  appointed  county  surveyor,  70 

Hoolihan,  county  seat  speculator,  58, 
108 

Horse  thieves,  working  in  county, 
52;  in  the  state,  53;  references  to, 
cited,  53  note 

Hoskins,  John  and  Steve,  97 

Hougstein,  Paul  T.,  98 

Hovey,  John  W.,  101 

Howe,  F.  O.,  101 

Howe,  Dan,  lives  at  West  End  set- 
tlement, 44 


INDEX 


183 


Howe,  brings  news  of  massacre  from 
Lakes,  32 

Rowland,  trials  with  expedition  in 
crossing  Cylinder  creek,   39,  40 

Hughes,  E.  E.,  155 

Hull,  142 

HuUen,  Henry,  98 

Hunting,  experiences  at  the  West 
Bend   settlement,   19 

Huntley,  Sol,  came  to  county,  96 

Humboldt,  Iowa,  128;  stage  line 
from,  88,  99,  111 

Humboldt  county,  Lotts  creek  in, 
13 ;  return  of  Lott  to,  28,  29,  43 ; 
freight  line  to,  90,  117 

Independence  township,  settlers  in, 
98 

Indiang,  had  title  to  Iowa  land,  12; 
traders  roamed  over  prairie,  12; 
their  title  extinguished,  12;  hos- 
tile, difficult  to  control,  13 ;  trouble 
with  the  whites,  13;  trouble  with 
Henry  Lott,  13;  causes  of  Spirit 
Lake  Massacre  and  border  troub- 
les, 13 ;  camped  at  West  Bend  set- 
tlement; pilfering  from  Evans,  16, 
17;  driving  away  cattle,  17;  ad- 
ventures of  Sioux  at  West  Bend, 
17,  18;  driving  away  elk,  19; 
geese  slaughtered  by,  23,  24; 
camped  near  Crowley's,  25;  In- 
dians menacing  the  pioneer,  27; 
various  tribes  roaming  over  prai- 
ries, 27;  troubles  with  the  settlers, 
27 ;  troubles  with  Henry  Lott,  27 ; 
resenting  whites'  advance,  28; 
treachery  of  Lott  too,  28;  ravages 
of  Inkpadutah,  29 ;  start  for  Spirit 
Lake,  30;  Spirit  Lake  Massacre 
described,  30,  31 ;  war  dances  after 
victory,  31;  relief  expedition 
against,  33;  signs  found  by  expe- 
dition, 35;  prisoners  on  way  to 
fort,  49;  escape  at  Mahan's,  50; 
border  troubles  of,  1862,  76;  out- 


break in  Minnesota,  76;  beaten 
off,  in  desperate  fight,  76;  prompt 
measures  of  border  brigade,  77,  78 
Ingham,  W.  H.,  captured  by  Indians, 
3 ;  enlists  men  for  border  brig- 
ade note  77 ;  captain  of  Co.  A,  77 ; 
his  company  located  at  Estherville, 
77;  sums  up  results,  78;  article  on 
northern  border  brigade,  cited,  76 
note,  77  note,  79  note;  Annals  of 
Iowa,  cited,  76  note,  77  note,  78 
note 

Ingham,  S.  E.,  ordered  to  organize 
border  brigade,  76,  77;  work  of 
in  organizing,  77 

Ingham,  Harvey,  describes  Indians 
in  Midland  Monthly,  29,  30;  Mid- 
land Monthly,  cited,  30   note 

Inkpadutah,  leader  of  the  Sioux  In- 
dians, 16,  25;  discovers  murder  of 
his  brother,  28;  becomes  chief  of 
Sioux  band,  29;  leads  his  band, 
29,  30;  leader  in  Spirit  Lake  Mas- 
sacre, 30;  where  camped,  32  note 

Inman,  George,  152 

Institute,  teachers,  first  in  county, 
138 

Iowa  City,  founded,  12;  cornmeal 
brought  from,  24,  44;  end  of  rail- 
road, 45;  John  McCormick  leaves 
goods  at,  45 

Iowa  Historical  Becord,  cited,  10 
note,  11  note,  62  note 

Iowa  River,  12 

Iowa  Lake,  company  of  border  brig- 
ade at,  77 

Iowa  Land  Office,  Appendix  D 

Iowa  territory,  62 

Iowa  Journal  of  History  and  Poli- 
tics, cited,  62  note 

Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  32nd,  Co. 
I,  Linn  &  Powers  enlist  in,  75 

Iowa,  affords  the  best,  9;  midway 
in  western  march,  11,  12;  early 
settlements  in,  12;  settlers  in,  12; 


184 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


tribes  of  Indians  in,  27;  ceded  by 
treaty,  27;  northern  border 
brigade,  description  of,  activities 
of,  76,  77,  78,  79;  article  on,  by 
Capt.  Ingham,  cited,  76  note,  77 
note,  79  note;  recollections  of  par- 
ticipants in,  cited,  76  note;  border 
counties  alarmed  in  1862,  governor 
raises  border  brigade,  76,  77; 
prompt  work  of  the  brigade,  77, 
78,  79;  settlement  in  delayed  by 
Civil  War,  rush  of  settlement  after 
war,  80;  coming  of  homesteaders. 
80,  81 

Ireland,  nativity  of  volunteers  in 
border  brigade,  77 

Irishmen,  colony  of,  settled  in  coun 
ty,  22 

Irish  colony,  first  settled  in  Palo 
Alto  county  in  July,  1856,  22,  23 ; 
importance  of,  26;  first  news  of 
massacre  brought  to,  32;  remain 
for  some  time,  32;  seek  refuge  at 
Fort  Dodge,  32;  relief  expedition 
reaches,  34;  refugees  sent  back  to, 
35;  expedition  returns  to,  36;  con- 
ditions in,  36;  soldiers  take  steer 
by  force  from,  36;  referred  to,  48, 

Irvington,  Kossuth  county,  56 
51;  candidates  from  at  first  elec- 
tion, 64 

Jackman's  Grove,  camping  at,  15 

Jackman,  Michael,  comes  to  county, 
52;  cabin  of,  historical  landmark, 
52,  99;  family  of,  107,  121 

Jackman,  Billy,  121 

Jackman,  Patrick,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 ;  interview  with,  cited,  22 
note;  joins  northern  border  brig- 
ade, 77,  121;  portrait,  23 

Jackson,  Minnesota,  30;  mail  route 
to,  54,  142 

Jacobs,    Geo.    J.,    located    at    West 


Bend,  81;  family  of,  81;  first  ex 
periences  of,  81,  82,  83 

Jacobs,  H.  H,,  came  to  county,  81 
described  early  experiences,  81,  83 
interview    with,    cited,    83    note 
drove  stage,  88;  experiences  stag- 
ing,   88,    89,    147;    description    of 
store  in  West  Bend,  147;   elected 
sheriff,   1885,   Appendix  A;    1887, 
Appendix  A;  elected  sheriff,  1889, 
Appendix  A;  elected  sheriff,  1891, 
Appendix  A 

Jasper  County,  settlers  from,  32 

Jefferson  barracks,  20 

Jennings,  John,  98 

Jenkins,  Henry,  starts  Eeporter,  91 

Jensen,  Nels,  99 

Jenswold,  John,  98 

Josh,  stayed  at  Carter's,  19 

Johnson,  D.  A.,  elected  clerk,  1902, 
Appendix  A;  elected  clerk,  1904, 
Appendix  A 

Johnson,  James,  came  to  county,  83, 
147 

Johnson,  Ben,  109;  arrival  of  bride 
of,  120 

Johnson,  Severt,  101 

Joiner,  H.  L.,  came  to  county,  83 

Joliffe,  James,  56 

Joliffe,  John,  56 

Johnson,  J.  C,  captain  of  Co.  C,  of 
relief  expedition,  32;  perishes 
from  cold,  36,  41 ;  bones  found 
years  after,  36;  captain  led  men 
to  bury  dead,  36 

Jones,  Peter,  99;  description  of 
country,  99;  high  water,  99;  in- 
terview with,  cited,  99  note 

Jones  &  Johnson,  store  building  in 
old  town,  115 

Jones,  Al,  came  to  county,  109 
stopped  at  Coonan's,  109  note 
purchased  stock  of  goods,  109 
mentioned,    112,    113;    arrival    of 


INDEX 


185 


bride  of,  120;  plays  joke  on  Fitz- 
gerald, 116 

Joyce,  Patrick,  starts  store  in  old 
town,  119;  refuses  to  move,  129, 
130;  finally  moves,  131,  131  note; 
Appendix  D;  portrait  of,  123 

Judgment,  in  Paoli  Court  House  mat- 
ter, in  full,  Appendix  B 

Kane,  J.  J.,  98 

Kane,  Dan,  121 

Kane  county.  111.,  colony  of  Irish 
from,  22 

Keeler,  James  A.,  freighting,  90; 
diary  of  early  days,  90;  interview 
with,  cited,  90  note 

Keenan,  James,  99 

Keane,  Daniel,  came  to  county,  154 

Kelly,  Dan,  148 

KeUy  Bros.,  97,  155 

Kelly,  Jeremiah,  came  to  county,  83, 
146 

Kelley,  Edward,  98 

Kelly,  B.  E.  elected  superintendent, 
1885,  Appendix  A;  elected  attor- 
ney, 1890,  Appendix  A 

Kelly,  E.  G.,  elected  treasurer,  1906, 
Appendix  A;  elected  treasurer, 
1908,  Appendix  A 

Kendall,  Orie,  153 

Keokuk,  laid  out,  12 

Kerwick,  M.  F.,  comes  to  old  town, 
119;  portrait,  119 

Ketchen  &  Lenhart,  open  clothing 
store  at  old  town,  115;  move  store, 
129 

Ketchen,  Charles,  delegate  to  conven- 
tion, 140 

King,  E.  J.,  98 

King,  Emory,  arrival  of  bride  of, 
120;  elected  sheriff,  1875,  Appen- 
dix A;  elected  sheriff,  1877,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1884,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1886,  Ap- 
pendix A 


Kinne,     George,     elected     recorder, 

1898,  Appendix  A;  elected  record- 
er, 1900,  Appendix  A 

Kirby,  Lizzie,  came  to  county,  83 
Kirby,  Thomas,  came  to  county,  83 
Kirby,  William,  came  to  county,  83 
Kirby,  Michael,  came  to  county,  83, 

84,  121 
Kirby,  Henry,  came  to  county,  83 
Kirby,  Mrs.  Alice  Tobin,  56 
Kirkwood,  Samuel  J.,  vote  for  gov- 
ernor, 71;  raises  forces  for  border 
brigade,    76,    77;    general    orders 
of,  78 
Kittlewell,   Hiram,  came  to  county, 

97 
Kleigle,  George,  98 
Knapp,  Joseph,  came  to  county,  83 
Knutson,  Torry,  101 
Kossuth  county,  pioneer  settlers  in, 

14;  history  of,  14  note,  147 
Krieg,  John,  came  to  county,  96 
Kress,  Adam,  came  to  county,  96 
Kunz,  August,  came  to  county,  96 

La  Barre,  Simpson,  98 
Lacy,  A.  V.,  came  to  county,  96 
Lane,  John,  99 

Lake  Shore  House,  Appendix  D 
Lamb,  J.  B.,  elected  treasurer,  1897, 
Appendix    A;     elected    treasurer, 

1899,  Appendix  A 
Lannon,  Pat,  121 

Lang,  John  L.,  organizes  church, 
118;  builds  house,  120;  elected 
surveyor,  1873,  Appendix  A 

Land,  prices  in  Palo  Alto  county. 
138 

Larson,  Bessie,  elected  superin- 
tendent, 1893,  Appendix  A;  elect- 
ed superintendent,  1895,  Appendix 
A 

Larson,  Torkel,  101 

Laughlins,  location  of  settlement  of, 
19;  referred  to,  50  note 


386 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Laughlin,  Mrs.  121 

Laughlin,  Thomas,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  12;  came  to  county,  85; 
elected  constable,  1861,  Appendix 
A 

Laughlin,  Lott,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22;  interview  with,  cited,  22 
note;  statement  of,  55  note;  elect- 
ed township  clerk,  65;  elected 
clerk,  73;  joins  northeru  border 
brigade,  77;  recollections  of,  cit- 
ed, 76  note,  121;  elected  clerk  of 
the  District  Court,  1860,  Appendix 
A;  portrait,  23 

Laughlin,  Martin,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22;  candidate  for  treas- 
urer and  recorder,  64;  vote  as  can- 
didate for  drainage  commissioner, 
72,  121 

Laughlin,  Mary,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Laughlin,  J.  T.,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Laughlin,  Patrick,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,    22 

Laughlin,  Ellen,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Lawler,  Gen.  John,  124;  owns  town- 
site,  123,  126 

Laws  of  Iowa,  1860,  cited,  66  note, 
cited,  62,  note  3,  63  note  6 

Lee,  Thomas,  101 

Leek,  D.  M.,  101 

Lehane,  T.  W.,  97 

LeMars,  convention  at,  139 

Letson,  Amos,  99 

Leuer,  John,  came  to  county,  96 

Lewis,  139 

Linn,  James,  comes  to  county,  44; 
marriage  of,  44;  enlists  in  Civil 
War,  75 

Lincoln,  adherence  of,  72;  votes  for, 
73;    approves   homestead   law,   80 

Linehan,  Father,  assists  to  build  first 
church,   117 


Little,  John  F.,  came  to  county,  95 

Little,  Frank,  came  to  county,  95 

Little  Crow,  leads  Sioux  Indians,  in 
border  troubles  of    1862,    76 

Little  Sioux  Eiver,  Indians  starting 
down,  30,  84 

Locust,  see  grasshopper 

Local  government  in  Palo  Alto  Coun- 
ty, 62;  development  of,  70,  73 

Log  cabins,  built  by  first  settlers  in 
timber,  80,  81 

Loughridge,  Linn,  came  to  county, 
96 

Loomis,  X.  S.,  came  to  county,  96 

Loon  Lake,  Indians  camping  at,  30 

Lost  Island,  hunting  at,  19 

Lost  Island,  post-office  at,  100 ;  stage 
line  through,  101 

Lost  Island  Lake,  first  settler  at, 
100;  other  settlers  at,  101 

Lost  Island  Townshij),  contained 
Highland  and  Lost  Island,  100; 
divided  in  1878,  100;  settlers  in, 
101 

Lott,  Henry,  cabin  of,  13 ;  troubles 
with  the  Indians,  13;  unscrupu- 
lousness  of,  27;  cabin  rendezvous; 
driven  out  by  Indians,  28;  his  re- 
turn, 28;  kills  chief,  Sidoninato- 
dah,  28;  escapes  down  the  river, 
28;  failure  to  punish,  29;  treach- 
ery of,  one  cause  of  Spirit  Lake 
massacre,  29,  30 

Lott's  creek,  13;  return  of  Lott  to, 
28 

Luce,  A.  M.,  left  flour  at  Shippeys, 
34 

Lynch,  Patrick,  came  to  county,  54, 
85 ;  elected  sheriflf,  1861,  Appendix 
A 

Lynch,  Andrew,  came  to  county,  85 

Lynn,  J.,  journey  for  provisions,  21 ; 
locates  settlers  in  Palo  Alto  coun- 
ty, 22,  23,  101 

Lyon,  T.  J.,  came  to  county,  85 


INDEX 


187 


Lyon  county,  repudiates  indebted- 
ness, 94 

Madisox,  Wiscoxsin,  125 

Mahan,  Ann  and  Ellen,  settled  with 
Irish  colony,  22 

Mahan,  Edward,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22;  fearlessness  of,  50; 
success  trapping,  51;  campaign 
for  Nolan,  64,  121 

Mahan,  Edward  and  Margaret,  por- 
trait, 23 

Mahan,  James,  comes  to  county,  49 

Mahan,  John  J.,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22;  interview  with  cited, 
22  note,  109;  portrait,  22 

Mahan,  John,  comes  to  county,  49 

Mahan,  Miss  Anna,   152 

Mahan,  Margaret,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Mahan,  Mary,  Anna,  Maggie  and 
Esther,  come  to  county,  49 

Mahan,  Mary  Ann,  comes  to  county, 
49;  pursues  Indians,  49,  50;  a 
fearless  frontier  woman,  50 

Mahan,  Myles,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22;  interview  with,  cited,  22 
note ;  come  to  county,  49 ;  early  ex- 
periences of,  49,  50,  51;  courage 
of,  50;  builds  new  house,  50;  lines 
road  to  Spirit  Lake,  50;  goes  to 
Mankato  for  supplies,  51,  121, 
portrait,  49 

Mahan,  Miles  E.,  comes  to  county, 
49;  statement  of,  cited,  53  note; 
interview  with,  cited  50  note,  51 
note 

Mahan,  Michael,  appointer  assessor, 
70 

Mahan,  Patrick,  comes  to  county,  49 

Mahan,  William,  comes  to  county,  49 

Maher,  Thomas,  came  to  county,  54; 
hauls  county  books,  67;  appointed 
clerk,  70,  98;  homestead  entry, 
125;  abandons  same,  126 


Maher,  William,  came  to  county,  54, 
121 

Mail,  carried  by  stage,  88 

Mallard,  founding  of  town  of,  152; 
history  of,   152,   153 

Mankato,  Minn.,  Mahan 's  trip  to  for 
supplies,  51 

Map  of  Palo  Alto  County,  frontis- 
piece 

Marriage,  first  in  county,  44 

Marsh,  Father,  first  religious  ser- 
vice, 56 

Marsh,  Joseph,  came  to  county,  96 

Martin,  bought  steam  saw  mill,  85 

Martin,  J.  L.,  history  of  Palo  Alto 
county,  no  copies  to  be  found,  8; 
came  to  county,  85;  political  can- 
vass, 94;  editor  of  Pilot,  120;  pio- 
neer in  school  work,  138;  elected 
county  superintendent,  138;  teach- 
er in  institute,  138;  elected  super- 
intendent, 1869,  Appendix  A; 
elected  recorder,  1872,  Appendix 
A;  elected  recorder,  1874,  Ap- 
pendix A;  portrait,  56 

Martin,    John    E.,    98 

Martin,  John  S.,  98 

Martin,  J.  K.,  came  to  county,  85 

Martin,  L.  A.,  elected  recorder,  1894, 
Appendix  A;  elected  recorder, 
1896,  Appendix  A 

Martin,  Patrick,  came  to  county,  85 

Martin,  Thomas,-came  to  county,  85 

Martin,  Thos.  E.,  elected  auditor, 
1902,  Appendix  A ;  elected  auditor, 
1904,  Appendix  A 

Martin,  Captain,  quarters  soldiers  at 
Mahan  s,  49 

Mason,  Frank  E.,  experience  in 
crossing  Cylinder  creek,  37,  38, 
39;  recollections  of,  cited,  41  note 

Matthews,  Mary  E.,  teacher  at  West 
Bend,  56 

Mathieson,  Jacob,  98 

Mathieson,   Julius,   98 


188 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


McAlhany,  P.,  101 

McBane,  Angus,  joins  relief  expedi- 
tion, 34 

McBride,  James,  101 

McCarty,  George  B.,  came  to  county 
in  1869,  109;  describes  journey, 
109;  early  experiences  of,  in  old 
town,  109-113;  statement  of  cited, 
109  note;  buying  warrants,  93; 
describes  campaign  of  1870,  92,  93, 
94,  95;  recollections  of  Palo  Alto 
county,  cited,  95  note;  political 
canvass,  94;  recollections  of  early 
Palo  Alto  county,  cited,  108  note, 
113;  recollections  of  early  Palo 
Alto  county,  cited,  114  note;  first 
office  of,  in  old  town,  115;  cost  of 
lumber  to  build,  115  note;  loca- 
tion of  old  building  in  new  town, 
115  note;  statement  of,  cited,  115 
note;  practical  jokes  on,  116;  at- 
torney for  Corbin,  123;  negotiates 
for  platting  of  Emmetsburg,  123- 
125;  statement  of  cited,  125  note; 
surveys  new  town,  127;  statement 
of,  cited,  127  note;  office  of, 
moved,  128;  describes  moving  of 
buildings,  129,  130,  131;  state- 
ment of,  131  note;  appointed  to 
investigate  swamp  titles,  139 ;  can- 
didate for  district  attorney,  139, 
140;  elected  district  attorney,  140; 
removes  to  Sioux  City,  140;  re- 
turns to  Emmetsburg,  140 ;  elected 
district  attorney  for  four  years, 
1874,  Appendix  A;  vote  for  dis- 
trict attorney,  Appendix  D;  por- 
trait, 109 

McCarty  &  McCarty,  site  of  old 
landmark  near  office  of,  115  note; 
law  office,  128 

McCarty,  D.  G.,  early  social  and  re- 
ligious experiments  in  Iowa,  cited, 
10  note;  Territorial  Governors  of 
the  old  Northwest,  cited,  10  note; 


early  social  and  religious  experi- 
ments in  Iowa,  11;  describes  early 
settlement  in  Iowa,  cited,  11  note, 
12  note,  62  note 

McCarty  &  Hartshorn,  office  of,  92; 
forms  partnership,  115;  i>ublish 
Adva7ice,  119;  office  of,  moved, 
128;  land  advertisement.  Appendix 
D 

McCarty,  Martin,  98 

McClelland,  S.,  journey  for  pro- 
visions, 21;  hunting  Avith,  19;  first 
came  to  the  county,  15 ;  returns  to 
Palo  Alto  county,  42;  locates  on 
Des  Moines  river,  42;  elected  con- 
stable, 65 

McComb,  Father,  held  religious  ser- 
vice, 56 

McCormick,  Charles,  joins  family  in 
West  Bend,  46;  some  reminis- 
cences cited,  44  note,  46  note; 
reminiscences  of  a  pioneer,  cited, 
54  note;  cited  56  note 

McCormick,  Isabel,  see  Mrs.  Isabel 
McCormick  Stone 

McCormick,  James,  comes  to  county, 
44;  froze  feet  on  journey,  44; 
amputation  at  Fort  Dodge,  44; 
elected  justice  of  the  peace,  65; 
successful  vote  for  sheriff,  71; 
justice  of  the  peace,  72;  county 
canvasser,  72;  elected  sheriff, 
1859,  Appendix  A 

McCormick,  John,  settled  in  Nevada 
township,  98 

McCormick,  John,  Jr.,  comes  to 
county,  44,  45,  describes  journey, 
45;  first  experiences  in  new  home, 
45,  46;  interview  with  cited,  46 
note;  had  first  mower  in  the  coun- 
ty, 82;  Alf  Jacobs  puts  up  hay, 
82;  writes  to  brother,  43;  recollec- 
tions of,  cited,  43  note;  elected 
county  superintendent,  1861,  Ap- 
pendix  A;    elected   coroner,    1861, 


INDEX 


189 


Appendix  A;  elected  coroner, 
1863,  Appendix  A;  elected  sheriff, 
1867;  Appendix  A;  portrait,  20 

McCormick,  Joseph,  joins  family  in 
West  Bend,  46;  enlisted  in  Civil 
War,  75;  met  death  at  Memphis, 
75;  buried  in  National  Cemetery, 
75 

McCormick,  Mrs.  John,  Sr.,  comes  to 
county,  44;  travels  to  Palo  Alto 
county,  42 

McCormick,  Eobert,  comes  to  county, 
42;  one  of  volunteers  to  bury 
dead,  36;  writes  from  Palo  Alto, 
43 

McCormick,  Tom,  joins  family  in 
West  Bend,  46;  postmaster  at 
Fern  Valley,  55;  successful  vote 
for  clerk,  71;  elected  county 
judge,  1861,  Appendix  A;  elected 
clerk,  1859,  Appendix  A 

McCormicks,  hospitality  of,  46;  de- 
scribed by  J.  N.  Prouty,  46,  47, 
48,  85;  Fern  Valley  postoffice  at, 
48,  55 ;  voted  for  Nolan  party,  64 ; 
first  three  republicans,  71  note 

McCormicks,  relief  expedition,  34 

McCosker,  Felix,  elected  county 
clerk,  64;  leaves  county,  70;  fails 
to  qualify  as  clerk,  70 

McCosker,  James,  settled  in  county, 
53;  first  county  surveyor,  53; 
elected  county  surveyor,  64;  1858, 
Appendix  A 

McCoy,  John,  came  to  county,  85 

McCoy  farm,  52 

McDonald,  John,  146 

McDonnell,  T.,  elected  sheriff,  1879, 
Appendix  A;  elected  sheriflf,  1881, 
Appendix  A 

McEvoy,  E.  P.,  settled  in  county, 
101;  interest  in  Osgood,  150; 
elected  treasurer,  1889,  Appendix 
A;  elected  treasurer,  1891,  Ap- 
pendix A;  portrait,  88 


McFarland  and  Son,  148 
McFarland,    C.    J.,    judge,    appoints 

commissioners,  60 
McFarland  &  McCormick,  147 
McFarland,  E.  M.  J.,  Sr.,  comes  to 

county,  43;  returns  to  Wisconsin, 

43 ;  comes  back  to  Palo  Alto,  43 
McFarland,   C.    J.,   appoints   county 

seat  commissioners,  67 
McGregor,  Iowa,  109 
McGregor  &  Missouri  River  Railway, 

built    as    far    as    Algona,     117; 

fight  over  forfeiture  of  grant  of, 

141,  142 
McGroarty,     Miss    Mary,    composes 

"March  of  Emmetsburg,"  131 
McGrorty,  A.  S.,  Jr.,  elected  super- 
intendent, 1877,  Appendix  A 
McGuifey's    speller,    used    by    pio- 
neers, 55 
McKnight,  Ed.,  20;  cabin  rifled,  29 
McKnight's  Point,    services   at,   56, 

89 
McKnight,  Lieutenant,  commanding 

company  in  border  brigade,  77 
McKinley,  103 
McLaughlin,  settled  in  Lost  Island, 

101 
McNally,  Mrs.  Maggie  Hickey,  first 

white  child  bom  in  the  county,  25 ; 

portrait 
McNally,  Myles,  98 
Meagher  vs.  Drury,  89th  Iowa  366, 

63,  cited  63  note 
Medium  Lake,  swarming  with  game, 

24;  referred  to,  52,  107,  108,  121; 

site  of  county  seat  on  bank  of,  58 
Mellon,  W.  H.,  98 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  75 
Menzies,     John,     elected     attorney, 

1894,  Appendix  A;   elected  attor- 
ney, 1896,  Appendix  A 
Merrill,   Samuel,   109,   124;   attempt 

to  name   Emmetsburg  after,   131, 

132,  142,  144 


190 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Mertis,  John,   153 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Em- 

metsburg,    organization    of,     118, 

119 
Mexican  war,  Palo  Alto  named  after, 

62,  63 
Midland  Monthly,  cited,  29 
Mikes  Brothers,  147 
Millfread,  Joseph,  152 
Miller,  Billy,  45 
Miller,  William,  trading  post  cabin 

of,  13 
Miller,  Rufus,  97 
Miller,  Thomas,  145 
Miller,  Amos  J.,  101 
Millerke,  Hiram,  99 
Mills,  John,  came  to  county,  96 
Millea,  J.  H.,  98 
Millea,  David,  98 
Military  road,  travels  over,  42,  15 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  124,  150 
Minger,  Elmore,  148 
Minnesota,   expedition  reaches  state 

line  of,  35,   118;    Sioux  outbreak 

in,  76 
Minute    record,    cited,    70    note    1, 

cited,  67  notes;  cited,  69  note 
Minutes     and     Supervisors     record, 

cited,  86  note;  cited,  87  note;  88 

note;    cited,    76    note;    cited,    91 

note,  92   note;    cited,    133;    cited, 

137  note;  cited,  139  note 
Mitchell,  Alex.,  124 
Mississippi    river,    western    progress 

delayed  at,  12 
Missouri  river,  20 
Missouri,  20 
Modern  Towns  of  present  Palo  Alto 

County,  157,  158 
Moffitt  family,  came  to  county,  96 
Moffitt,  John,  came  to  county,  96 
Moncrief  family,  came  to  county,  85 
Moncrief,    John,    elected    surveyor, 

1887,  Appendix  A;  elected  auditor, 

1891,  Appendix  A 


Money  Panic  of  1873,  137 

Monticello,  Iowa,  113 

Morrison,  Seymour,  came  to  county, 

97 
Moran,  Thomas,  102 
Morling,    E.    A.,    elected    attorney, 

1898,  Appendix  A;  elected  attor- 
ney, 1900,  Appendix  A 
Mosquitoes,   prevalence    of   in   early 

days,  106 
Mulroney's,  Soda  Bar  PostoflSce  at, 

54,  55 
Mulroney,   Kieren,   came   to   county, 

54;  joins  northern  border  brigade, 

77,  121 
Mulroney,  Maggie,  54 
Mulroney,  Mrs.,  54 
Mulroney's,  Jacobs  hauls  hay  from, 

82 
Mulroney,    Patrick,    elected    county 

judge,  1863,  Appendix  A;  elected 

county  judge,  1865,  Appendix  A 
Mulroney,  John  M.,  elected  treasurer 

and  recorder,  64;   successful  vote 

for    treasurer    and    recorder,    71; 

elected  treasurer  and  recorder,  73 ; 

elected     treasurer     and     recorder, 

1858,  Appendix  A;  elected  county 
treasurer  and  recorder,  1859,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  treasurer  and 
recorder,  1860,  Appendix  A;  elect- 
ed treasurer  and  recorder,  1861, 
Appendix  A ;  elected  treasurer  and 
recorder,  1863,  Appendix  A;  elect- 
ed recorder,  1864,  Appendix  A 

Mulroney,  Joseph,  settled  in  county, 
54;  elected  constable,  65;  success- 
ful vote  for  drainage  commission- 
er, 72;  joins  northern  border  bri- 
gade, 77;  ran  stage,  88;  freezes 
feet,  82;  supervisor,  86,  117,  121; 
elected      drainage      commissioner, 

1859,  Appendix  A 

Munch,  Henry,  came  to  county,  9G 
Murphy's  bayou,  first  camp  at,  23 


INDEX 


191 


Murphy,  William,  comes  to  county, 
51 ;  returns  to  Fort  Dodge,  52 ; 
settles  permanently  in  county,  52; 
aids  laying  out  county  seat,  58; 
statement  of,  cited,  59  note,  121 

National  Cemetery,  75 

Neary,  John,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22,  121;  portrait,  22 

Neary,  John  F.,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 ;  interview  with,  cited, 
22  note;  statement  in  regard  to 
Indians,  32  note 

Neary,  Mary,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22 

Neary,  James,  elected  county  super- 
visor, 1861,  Appendix  A 

Neary,  Patrick,  came  to  county,  85 ; 
road  to,  85 

Nelson,  John,  99 

Nevada  Township,  settlers  in,  98     ^ 

Newark,  N.  J.,  44 

New  Jersey,  43,  44,  45 

New  settlers,  selecting  locations,  42 

New  Ulm,  Minnesota,  Indians  at- 
tack, 75;  desperate  fight  at,  76; 
Indians  beaten  off,  76 

Nolan,  Anastasia,  setled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Nolan,  Bridget,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Nolan,  Charles,  came  to  county,  85 

Nolan,  Charles  T.,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22;  statement  of,  55  note, 
109,  portrait,  23 

Nolan,  James,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22;  election  judge,  63;  can- 
didate for  county  judge,  64;  vote 
as  candidate  for  sheriff,  71;  elect- 
ed surveyor,  73,  121 ;  elected  sur- 
veyor, 1860,  Appendix  A 

Nolan,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James,  portrait, 
22 

Nolan,  James,  Jr..  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Nolan,  James  F.,  came  to  county,  84 


Nolan,  John,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22;  first  postoffice  at,  54; 
mail  distribution  at,  55;  elected 
constable,  65;  elected  justice  of 
the  Peace,  73,  supervisor,  86,  99, 
121;  elected  justice  of  the  peace, 
1860,  Appendix  A;  elected  county 
supervisor,  Emmetsburg  township, 
1863,  Appendix  A 

Nolan,  John  F.,  settled  with  Irish 
colony,  22 

Nolan,  Maria,  settled  with  Irish  col- 
ony, 22 

Nolan,  Patrick,  settled  in  county,  51, 
99,  104,  121 ;  elected  sheriff,  1865, 
Appendix  A;  elected  sheriff,  1873. 
Appendix  A 

Nolan,  P.  v.,  elected  sheriff,  1883, 
Appendix  A;  elected  auditor,  1887, 
Appendix  A;  elected  county  au- 
ditor, 1889,  Appendix  A 

Normal  Institute,  first  in  county,  138 

North,  The,  in  the  Civil  War,  74 

Northwest  Iowa,  early  settlement  in, 
13,  14 

Nowhan,  Percy,  56 

Obart,  H.  C,  came  to  county,  96 

O'Brien  County,  94,  142 

Ochseedawashta,  visits  W.  D.  Powers, 
20 

"Old  town"  of  Emmetsburg,  103, 
104,  105;  beginning  of,  107,  108; 
early  growth  of,  108,  109;  condi- 
tions in,  113-121;  population  of, 
119;  houses  built  East  of,  120; 
temporary  buildings  in,  122; 
reaches  its  acme,  122,  123;  un- 
settled condition  in,  123;  agitation 
for  removal  of,  123;  picture  of 

Old  settlers,  recollections  taken  ver- 
batim as  sources  for  this  history, 
9;  their  assistance  acknowledged, 
9 

O'Connor,  James,  102 


192 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


O'Connor,  Thomas,  102 

O'Connor,  Thomas,  elected  county 
attorney,  1886,  Appendix  A ; 
elected  county  attorney,  1888,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  attorney,  1892, 
Appendix  A 

O'Connell,  William,  121 

Odland,  Anna,  elected  superintend- 
ent, 1903,  Appendix  A 

O 'Grady,  P.,  154 

Ohio,  nativity  of  Sergeant  Carter  in 
border  brigade,  77 

Okoboji  Lakes,  settlement  at,  30 ; 
massacre  at,  30,  31 

Oleson,  M.  N.,  155 

Olney,  Dr.,  of  Fort  Dodge,  44 

Olsen,  James,  99 

Olsen,  Lars,  99 

Olson,  Peter,  came  to  county,  97 

Ormsby,  Col.  E.  S.,  locates  in  old 
town,  118;  organizes  Methodist 
church,  118,  119;  establishes  first 
bank,  119;  moves  house  and  bank, 
129;  plants  wheat  in  new  town, 
133;  president  Des  Moines  River 
B.  B.,  141;  portrait,  133 

Ormsby,  A.  L.,  arrival  of  bride  of, 
120;  builds  brick  house,  133 

Ormsby,  Scot,  107 

Oshier,  H.  N.,  151 

Osgood,  founding  of,  149 ;  history  of, 
101,  102,  149,  150;  railroad  race 
through,  143,  144 

Osgood,  Canada,  150 

Owen,  son  acts  as  guide  through  high 
water,   99 

Owens,  P.  H.,  154 

Owens,  Bobert  C,  came  to  county,  97 

Palo  Alto  township,  64 

Palo  Alto,  rich  and  fertile,  9;  first 
setlement  in.  May,  1855,  15;  first 
prairie  broken  in,  16;  soil  untrod 
by  permanent  settlers,  14;  first 
travelers    over,    14;    Major    Sher- 


man's march  through,  20;  Wil- 
liam D.  Powers  settles  in,  20; 
Irish  settlement  in,  22;  settlers  in, 
knew  nothing  of  Spirit  Lake  mas- 
sacre, relief  expedition  reach,  33; 
letters  from,  43 ;  settlers  in,  43 ; 
climate  severe,  43;  beauties  of, 
43;  first  marriages  in,  44;  settle- 
ment of  Myles  Mahan  in,  49;  first 
mail  service  in,  54;  speculative 
county  seats  in,  58,  59,  60,  61; 
need  of  county  organization,  62; 
part  of  original  Fayette  county, 
62;  established  as  a  new  county, 
62;  named  after  battle  of  Palo 
Alto  in  Mexican  war,  62,  63;  at- 
tached to  Boone  county  for  gov- 
ernmental purposes,  63;  attached 
to  Webster  county,  63;  organized 
as  a  separate  county  government, 
63,  64;  first  election  in,  abstract 
of  votes,  64,  65;  smoothness  of 
county  government,  73;  volunteers 
in  northern  border  brigade,  from, 
77;  anxiety  in,  during  border 
troubles,  78;  guns  and  amunition 
distributed  to  settlers  in,  77; 
homestead  proof  made  at  Fort 
Dodge  office,  80;  western  tier  of 
counties  at  Sioux  City  office,  80; 
settlement  delayed  during  war,  81; 
population  of,  81;  census  shows 
growth  of,  81;  stage  lines  in,  88, 
89;  freight  lines  in,  90;  early 
newspapers  in,  90,  91 ;  pays  old 
indebtedness  in  full,  94;  home- 
steaders coming  to,  99;  period  of 
growth  for,  106;  advance  of  in 
population  and  prosperity,  106; 
impressions  of  a  traveler  to,  1869, 
107,  108;  land  prices  in,  138;  in- 
dustries of,  138;  schools  of,  138; 
modern  aspects  of,  156,  157,  158; 
value  of  farms  of,  156;  banking 
strength  of,  156;  trade  and  busi- 


INDEX 


193 


ness  of,  156;  products  of,  157; 
social  conditions  of,  157;  modern 
towns  of,  157,  158;  advantages  of, 
158;  map  of,  frontispiece 

Palo  Alto  bounded,  62 

Palo  Alto  Reporter,  cited,  44  note; 
cited,  54  note 

Palo  Alto  Printing  Company,  pub- 
lished the  Pilot,  119 

Palo  Alto  Advan<;e,  published  in  Old 
Town  in  1870,  no  copies  left,  8; 
published  at,  90 

Palo  Alto  Patriot,  published  in  1873, 
no  copies  left,  8;  published  in 
1873,  91;  started,  119;  extra  copy 
of,  119  note 

Palo  Alto  Tribune,  118  note 

Paoli,  old  postoflSce  at,  55;  location 
of  county  seat  at,  67;  located  by 
county  seat  commissioner,  60; 
court  house  and  school  house  built 
at,  60;  failure  to  develop  town, 
60;  abandoned,  61;  court  house, 
description  of,  68;  school  house  at, 
68 ;  description  of,  68 ;  desertion 
of,  69 ;  residence  of  volunteers,  77 ; 
steam  saw  mill  at,  85;  contract 
for  buildings  at,  86;  court  house 
at,  untenantable,  92;  brick  from 
court  house  at,  107,  108,  133 

"Paddy  in  the  Bush,"  121 

"Paddy  on  the  Flat,"  121 

"Paddy  Green,"  121 

Parmeter  brings  news  of  massacre 
from  Lakes,  32 

Pattersonville,   142 

Patton,  Lille,  elected  superintendent, 
1906,  Appendix  A;   elected  super- 
intendent, 1908,  Appendix  A 
Pease,  Luther  L.,  63;  vote  for  sen- 
ator, 71 

Peddie,  Alex.,  statement  of,  cited, 
127;  comes  to  old  town,  115;  por- 
trait, 119 

Pendergast,   John,   came   to   county. 


54;  elected  justice  of  the  peace, 
65;  elected  clerk,  1861,  Appendix 
A 

Pendleburg,  George,  154 

Pennsylvania,  11th  Cavalry,  75; 
Palo  Alto  county,  soldiers  in,  75 

Perkins,  Henry,  elected  superintend- 
ent, 1879,  Appendix  A 

Perry,  Izac,  came  to  county,  96 

Perry,  W.  I.,  101 

Peterson,  Peter  O.,  98 

Peterson,  Thomas,  99 

Peterson,  E.,  came  to  county,  96 

Peterson,  owns  first  threshing  ma- 
chine in  county,  85 

Phoenix,  J.  E.,  came  to  county,  97 

Pharoah,  plague  of  locusts,  in  time 
of,  136 

Pike,  H.  A.,  elected  superintendent, 
1881,  Appendix  A 

Pilot,  published  in  1874,  partial  file 
only  of,  8;  issued  in  old  town, 
119,  120;  published  at  Emmets- 
burg,  1874,  91;  description  of, 
120;  incomplete  file  of  preserved, 
120  note,  131  note;  items  from, 
Appendix  D 

Pioneers  fast  passing  away,  7;  per- 
petuate achievements  of,  9 ;  charm 
surrounding  life  of  first  settlers, 
11;  increases  with  passing  of 
frontier  life,  11;  adventures  of, 
11;  endure  hardships  to  found  a 
home,  11 ;  first  experiences  at 
Irish  settlement,  23;  incident  il- 
lustrating diflSculty  of,  43;  of 
Iowa  and  the  Civil  "War,  74;  of 
Palo  Alto  county  and  Civil  War, 
74;  locate  in  timber,  81;  home- 
steaders locate  on  prairie,  80,  81; 
pioneers'  privations  of,  described, 
82,  83;  pleasures  of,  106;  women 
of,  self-sacrifice  of,  106;  troubles 
with  grasshoppers,  135-137;  effect 
of  hard  times  on,  136,  137;  desti 


194 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


tution  of,  137;  return  of  prosper- 
ity, 137,  138 

Pleasant  Hill,  Palo  Alto  soldiers  in 
battle  of,  75 

Plover,   152 

Plymouth  county,  117 

Pocahontas  county,  services  at,  56,  60, 
67,  117 

Pocahontas,  prairie  fire  coming  from, 
81 

Political  organization  in  detail,  62, 
73 ;  established,  73 ;  campaigns, 
92,  93,  94,  95;  close  for  years,  95 

Pollock,  William  B.,  joins  relief  ex- 
pedition, 34;  county  seat  commis- 
sioner, 60;  county  seat  commis- 
sioner, 67 

Pond,  E.  G.,  bills  saw-mill,  108,  112, 
113 

Population  of  Palo  Alto  county,  156 

Post,  Sam,  came  to  county,  96 

Potatoes,  price  in  1871,  100 

Potter  &  Scovington,  146 

Pottawattomie  Indians,  12 

Powhattan,  services  at,  56 

Powers,  William  D.,  letter  to  semi- 
centennial committee,  14  note;  let- 
ters from,  15  note;  joining  West 
Bend  colony,  20;  tells  his  story, 
20,  21;  letter  of,  cited,  21  note; 
marriage  of,  44;  elected  justice  of 
the  peace,  65;  elected  township 
clerk,  65 ;  justice  of  the  peace,  72 
county  canvasser,  72;  enlists  iti 
Civil  War,  75;  elected  recorder, 
1868,  Appendix  A;  portrait,  20 

Prairie,  first  broken  in  the  county, 
16 

Prairie  fires,  menace  of,  51;  ex- 
amples of  terror  of,  51;  burns  out 
Jacobs,  81,  82 

Prairie  du  Chien,  Wisconsin,  123, 
124,  126 

Presidential  campaign  in,  1860,  72, 
73 


Presbyterian  church,  organized,  56 
Prices  for  produce  in  1871,  105 
Products  of  Palo  Alto  county,  157 
Prospectus  of  Palo  Alto  Democrat, 
published  at  Soda  Bar,  Appendix  E 
Protestant  church,  in  old  town,  118 
Prouty,  J.  N.,  takes  homestead,  99; 
moves  back  to  Humboldt,  99;  de- 
scription  of   McCormick   hospital- 
ity,  46,  47,   48;    letter   of,   cited, 
48  note 
Prouty,  Tom,  99 

Prouty,   T.   J.,  elected  clerk,   1874, 
Appendix  A;   elected  clerk,  1876, 
Appendix  A;   elected  clerk,  1878, 
Appendix  A 
Prouty,  Chester,  99 
Pugsley,  George,  97 
Public  Park  of  Emmetsburg,  secured, 
124 

QUIGLEY,  B.,  98 

Quigley,  Peter,  98 

Eadigan,  p.,  101 

Railroad,    Des    Moines    River,    pro- 
jected,  141 
Randall,   Ezekial,  and  family,  came 

to  county,  96 
Read,  Washington,  vote  as  candidate 

for  treasurer  and  recorder,  71 
Ream,  Daniel,  elected  superintendent, 

1864,  Appendix  A 
Red  End,  see  Inkpadutah 
Reed,  M.,  came  to  county,  96 
Reed,  William,  settled  in  county,  53 
Begister  4"  Leader,  cited,  119  note 
Register  of  elections  cited,  64  note, 

70  notes,  71  note,  72  note 
Reichle,  August,  150 
Relief  expedition  recruited,  33; 
starts  on  march,  33;  reaches  Palo 
Alto  county,  33;  experiences  of, 
34,  35,  36,  37,  38,  39,  40,  41 ;  trials 
in  crossing  Cylinder  creek,  37,  38, 


INDEX 


195 


39,  40;  courage  of,  41;  importance 
of  in  history,  41 
Religious  service,  first  in  county,  56 
Reporter,  Palo  Alto,  complete  files 
preserved,  8;  started,  1876,  91; 
cited,  134  note,  136  note,  138 
note,  140  note,  141  note,  142  note 

Republican,  three  first  votes  in  coun- 
ty, 71 ;  votes  for  governor,  71 ; 
McCormick's  first  three,  71  note; 
four  votes  for  president  in  1860, 
72;   campaign  of  1870,  92,  93,  94 

Republican  paper,  91 

Resolution,  asking  relief  for  county, 
Appendix  C 

Revision  of  1860,  cited,  66  note 

Richards,  J,  C,  came  to  county,  97 

Richards,  Charles  B.,  captain  of  Co. 
A  of  relief  expedition,  33;  remin- 
iscences of,  cited,  34  note,  39  note ; 
at  Shippey's,  joins  command  after 
storm,  40 

Richardson,  Ralph,  97 

Richardson,  William,  97 

Richardson,  Thomas,  97 

Richardson,  Pearl,  elected  recorder, 
1906,  Appendix  A;  elected  record- 
er, 1908,  Appendix  A 

Rierson,  Anfin,  101 

Rierson,  Halver,  101 

Riverdale  farm,  53,  58 

Robinson,  Judge,  140 

Robins,  John,  103;  elected  superin- 
tendent, 1871,  Appendix  A;  elect- 
ed auditor,  1877,  Appendix  A; 
elected  auditor,  1879,  Appendix  A 

Rocky  Mountains,  grasshoppers  from, 
135 

Rodman,  McCormicks  located  near, 
44;  founding  of,  148;  history  of. 
148,  149 

Rogers,  John,  came  to  county,  96 

Rolfe,  state  route  to,  88,  89 

Root  house  of  pioneer  cabin,  23 

Roper,   F.   H..   becomes  landlord   of 


the  Valley  House,  115,  116,  state- 
ment of,  cited,  116  note 

Roper's  Hall,  Appendix  D 

Roper,  Bill,  stormbound  on  stage, 
89 

Rowen,  Rev.  J.  E.,  editor  of  Pilot, 
120 

Rund,  Adam,  came  to  county,  96 

Rupert,  John,  came  to  county,  96 

Rural  schools,  in  county,  157 

Rural  mail  routes  in  county,  157 

Rush  Lake  township,  newcomers  in, 
96,  152 ;  experiences  of  Carters  at, 
17 

Rustabakke,  S.  A.,  98 

Rutland,  Humboldt  county,  45;  stag- 
ing to,  88 

Ruthven,  Robert,  owns  townsite,  101, 
145 

Ruthven,  founding  of  town  of,  145; 
history  of,  145,  146 

Ruthven,  Alex,  101 ;  owns  townsite, 
145 

Ruthven,  John,  101 

Ruthvens,  101 

Ryan,  Myles,  came  to  county,  85 

Ryder,  Orin,  99 

Ryder,  William,  99 

Ryder,  Silas,  101 

Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  sell  land  to 

Dubuque,  12  note 
Sage,  first  name  of  Emmetsburg,  132 
Sage,  Russell,  132 
Salter,    Wm.,    Iowa,    the    first    free 

state   in    the   Louisiann   purchase, 

12  note 
Sands,  T.  H.,  153 
Sanders,  Ed.,  96 
Sanders,  H.,  96 
Sanford,  Filo,  96 
Sater,  Andrew,  97 

Saunders,  W.  E.  G.,  mansion  of,  121 
Saw  Mill,  at  Paoli,   85;    service   to 

settlers,  85 


106 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Sawyer,  John,  97 

Sawyers,  Colonel,  commanding  bor- 
der brigade,  78 ;  reports  of,  78 

Scarlet  Point,  see  Inkpadutah 

Scandinavian  settlement,  in  Palo 
Alto  county,  99,  100 

Schaffer,  of  Dakota  City,  McCor- 
micks  stop  with,  44 

Schneider,  John,  97 

Schneider,  Mike,  came  to  county,  96 

School  at  West  Bend,  56 

School,  at  Graettinger,  151,  152 

School,  first  in  county,  55 

Schools,  organiation  of,  55;  of  mod- 
ern Palo  Alto  county,  157 ;  increas- 
ing,- 138;  superintendent  of,  138 

"School  section,"  of  Coonan  house, 
111,  112 

Schoonmaker  &  Hall,  154 

Schuler,  Mike,  96 

Scofield,  A.  J.,  came  to  county,  96 

Scott,  James,  vice-president  county 
fair,  140 

Seasnbumer,  Anton,  came  to  county. 

Secession,  as  an  issue  in  Civil  War, 
74 

Seely,  L.,  98 

Semi-Centennial,  Palo  Alto  county, 
at  Emmetsburg,  Iowa,  July,  1906, 
renewed  historical  associations,  8 ; 
containing  autograph  register  of 
visitors,"  8 

Semi-Centennial  committee,  letters 
to,  15  note;  letter  of  Mr.  Carter 
to,  19 

Semi-Centennial  Eecord  Book,  cited, 
54  note,  125  note,  118  note,  114 
note 

Settlement  of  Paoli  Court  House 
matter,  Appendix  B 

Settlement  of  judgment,  87;  com- 
pleted by  supervisors,  87;  poor  lo- 
cation of,  87;  abandonment  of,  87; 
interior  furnishings  of,  87 

Settlement,  genesis  of,  shows  charac- 


ter of  development,  10;  Western, 
delayed  by  Civil  War,  80 

Sharp,  Mrs.  Abbie  Gardner,  sole  sur- 
vivor of  Spirit  Lake  massacre,  30 ; 
described  Spirit  Lake  massacre, 
30,  31;  history  of  Spirit  Lake 
massacre,  cited,  30  note,  31  notes, 
34  note 

Sharp,  Seth,  56 

Shade  tree  city,  Emmetsburg  as,  133 

Sheperd,  J.  W.,  came  to  county,  97 

Sherlock  postoffice,  97 

Sherlock,  Patrick,  came  to  county, 
96,  97 

Sherlock,  James,  97 

Sherlock,  Dan,  97 

Sherlock,  John,  97 

Sherlock,  Joe,  97 

Sherman,  Major,  march  through 
county  in  1854,  20 

Sheas,  came  to  county,  54 

Shea,  William,  came  to  county,  85, 
121;  finds  bones  of  Johnson  and 
Burkholder,  36 

Shea,  W.  H.,  forms  partnership  with 
White,  115;  plays  joke  on  Fitz- 
gerald, 116,  94,  113,  139;  elected 
auditor,  1873,  Appendix  A 

Shea,  Thomas,  came  to  county,  85, 
121 

Shea,  John,  came  to  county,  85; 
elected  drainage  commissioner,  64; 
elected  drainage  commissioner, 
1858,  Appendix  A 

Shea,  Kobert,  came  to  county,  85, 
121,  139;  elected  clerk,  1870,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1872,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  treasurer,  1877, 
Appendix  A;  elected  treasurer, 
1879,  Appendix  A;  elected  treas- 
urer, 1881,  Appendix  A;  elected 
treasurer,  1883,  Appendix  A 

Sheldon,   141 

Shippey's,  flour  found  at,  34;  relief 


INDEX 


197 


expedition  reaches,  34;  relief  ex- 
pedition at,  38,  39,  40,  85 

Shippey,  Eobt.,  candidate  for  drain- 
age commissioner,  64 

Shippey,  William,  settled  in  county, 

Shippey,  James,  candidate  for  coun- 
ty surveyor,  64 

Shippey,  John,  vote  for  candidate 
for  county  surveyor,  72 

Shriner,  E.  E.,  149 

Sidominatodah,  death  of,  28 

Silver  creek,  bridge  over,  69 

Silver  Lake  township,  settlers  in, 
96;  some  early  history  of,  article, 
cited,  97  note 

Simonson,  A.,  101 

Simmons,  Jason,  came  to  county  with 
McFarland,   43 

Sioux  City,  Iowa,  22,  113,  140;  land 
office,  western  tier  of  townships, 
land  proof  at,  80 

Sioux  Indians,  camped  near  West 
Bend  settlement,  16;  trouble  with, 
16;  camp  near  Carters',  17;  ex- 
periences of,  18,  20;  ferocity  of, 
27;  trouble  of  with  Lott,  27, 
28;  treachery  of  Lott  towards, 
28;  death  of  chief,  Sidomimato- 
dah,  28;  Inkpadutah  becomes 
chief,  29;  vengeance  of,  30;  per- 
petrate Spirit  Lake  massacre,  30, 
31;  outbreak  in  Minnesota,  1862, 
76;  on  war  path  to  the  south,  76; 
brigade  turns  Indians  northward, 
77;   prevents  trouble  in  Iowa,   78 

Skow,  J.  J.,  99 

Slater,  Mrs.  Thomas,  writes  of  early 
experiences,  104,  105;  letter  of, 
cited,  105  note 

Slater,  Thomas,  freight,  90;  came  to 
county,  102;  tells  of  early  experi- 
ences in,  102,  103,  104;  letter  of, 
cited,  104  note;  prices  of  produce, 


described  by,  105;  statement  of, 
cited,  105  note 

Slavery,  as  an  issue  in  the  Civil  War, 
74 

Sleepy  Eye,  chief  of  the  Sioux,  18; 
chief  of  Indians  near  Crowley's, 
25;  camped  at  Crowley's  grove,  32 
note 

Sloan,  Orrin,  came  to  county,  85 

Sloan,  W.  S.,  came  to  county,  85 

Sloan,  David,  came  to  county,  85 

Sloan,  William,  149 

Smith,  History  of  Dickinson  County, 
30;  cited,  34  note 

Smith,  Private,  at  Shippey 's,  joins 
command  after  storm,  40 

Smith,  Joe,  110 

Smith,  Father  J.  J.,  first  pastor  of 
first  church,  117;  comes  to  Em- 
metsburg,  117;  extent  of  Parish, 
117;  wide  influence  of,  through 
Northwest,  118;  statement  of, 
cited,  117  note;  sketch  of  life  of, 
118  note,  portrait,  117 

Smithland,  Indians  go  to,  30 ;  trouble 
at,  30 

Snow,  H.  I.,  97 

Snyder,  J,  M.,  46 

Soda  Bar,  55;  postoffice  established 
at,  56;   staging  from,  88 

Society  of  early  pioneer,  55 

Soda  Bar,  Democrat  published  at,  in 
1869,  8;  published  at,  119 

Sod  houses,  built  by  homesteaders, 
80,  81 

Soldiers,  special  land  concessions  to, 
80 

Soners,  J.  T.,  101 

Soper,  E.  B.,  139,  146 

South,  The,  in  the  Civil  War,  74 

Spaulding,  D.  W.,  elected  superin- 
tendent, 1867,  Appendix  A 

Spaulding,  James,  101 

Spencer,  stage  line  through,  101,  113 

Spies,  Jacob,  150 


198 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Spies,  J.  A.,  150,  151 

Spirit  Lake,  peaceful  settlement  at, 
30;  massacre  at,  30,  31;  detach- 
ment sent  to  bury  dead  at,  36; 
Myles  Mahan  stops  at,  51;  mail 
service  to,  54;  travel  to,  50;  Ma 
ban's  a  half  way  house,  50;  road 
to,  staked  out,  50,  51;  stage  to, 
117,  66  note;  saw  mill  at,  85,  142. 
143 

Spirit  Lake  expedition,  see  relief  ex- 
pedition 

Spirit  Lake  massacre,  causes  of,  13 ; 
border  troubles,  causes  of,  13,  25, 
30,  31;  history  of,  cited,  30  note, 
31  note;  Indians  prisoners  of, 
escape,  49,  50;  memory  of  terrifies 
settlers,  78 

Springfield,  United  States  troops 
quartered  at,  35 

Springfield,  Minnesota,  Indians  camp 
near,  30;  refugees  from,  meet  re- 
lief expedition,  35 

Sprout,  C.  N.,  98 

Sprout,  L.  N.,  98 

Sprout,  A.  L.,  98 

Stafford,  Bill,  153 

Stage,  regular  trips  made  by,  88; 
description  of  experiences  in  stag- 
ing, 88,  89,  90 ;  routes  of,  88,  89 

Stakes  towns,  58;  fight  to  build  up. 
130,  131 

Starr,  William,   113 

State  election  in,  abstract  of  votes, 
71,  72 

Stebbins,  J.  P.,  came  to  county,  96 

Stedman,  Sim  E.,  elected  auditor, 
1906,  Appendix  A;  elected  auditor, 
1908,  Appendix  A 

Steil,  Nicholas,  came  to  county,   96 

Sterner,  O.  A.,  came  to  county,  96 

Stewart,  Charles,  came  to  county,  85 

St.  Louis,  20 

St.  Paul,  20 


Stock,  restraining  of,  carried  in 
county.  Appendix  D 

Stockdale,  John  M.,  buys  swamp 
land,  59;  cousin  of  Governor  Kirk- 
wood,  59  note;  secures  appoint- 
ment of  commissioner,  59,  60;  se- 
cures control  of  land,  60;  builds 
court  house  and  school  house,  60 ; 
assignee  of  Clark  contract,  69; 
brought  steam  saw  mill  to  county, 
85;  assignee  of  contract  for  court 
house  at  Paoli,  86;  suit  against, 
86,  87;  settlement  of,  87;  diffi- 
culties over  swamp  titles,  139 

Straight,  John,  county  seat  commis- 
sioner, 60,  67 

Stratton,  Lieutenant,  36 

Stone,  Ira  D.,  came  to  county,  83 

Stone,  J.  E.,  came  to  county,  96 

Stone,  Mrs.  Isabel  McCormick,  comes 
to  county,  44;  description  of  jour- 
ney, 44;  letters  of  cited,  44  note 

Struthers',  56 

Stuehmer,  Lewis,  elected  recorder, 
1888,  Appendix  A;  elected  record- 
er, 1890,  Appendix  A;  elected  re- 
corder, 1892,  Appendix  A 

Substitutes,  hired  from  county  for 
Civil  War,  75,  76 

Supreme  Court  of  Iowa,  case  involv- 
ing title  in  Palo  Alto  county,  63 

Swamp  lands,  difficulties  over,  139 

Swessinger,  G.,  came  to  county,  96 

Sweeny,  Michael,  paper  on  relief  ex- 
pedition, cited,  36  note 

Sylvester,  Orrin,  settled  in  county, 
48;  elected  coroner,  64;  elected 
coroner,  1858,  Appendix  A 

Teachers  '   Institute,  Appendix  D 
Telliauer,  J.  C,  came  to  county,  96 
Terwilliger,   Chas  ,   155 
Teuland,  stage  route  to,  89 
Thatcher,  Julius,  came  to  county,  96 
Thompson,  William,  148 


INDEX 


199 


Thompson,  J.  M.,  97 

Thoreson,  Simon,  100 

Thoreson,  Lars,  100 

Threshing  machine,  first  in  county, 
86 

Threshing  for  Martin  Coonan,  1871, 
picture  of,  107 

Tilford,  James,  147 

Tobin-Mulroney  settlement,  at  Soda 
Bar,  83 

Tobins  &  Mulroneys,  saw  mill  at,  85 

Tobin  &  Company 's  store,  moved. 
129 

Tobin,  Alice,  came  to  county,  54; 
postmistress  at  Soda  Bar,  56; 
postmistress,  88 

Tobins,  hauls  hay  from  Jacobs,  82 

Tobin,  Thomas,  came  to  county,  54; 
postmaster  at  Soda  Bar,  56;  elect- 
ed sheriff,  64;  elected  justice  of 
the  peace,  65;  postmaster,  88; 
starts  store  at  old  town,  119,  121 ; 
trade  of,  while  moving,  129;  pop- 
ularity of  store  of,  130;  builds 
brick  store  building,  133;  elected 
sheriff,  1858,  Appendix  A;  por- 
trait, 56 

Town  lots,  sale  of,  in  Emmetsburg, 
132 

Trade  and  Business  in  modern  Palo 
Alto  County,  156 

Trapping,  by  early  settlers,  24,  51 ; 
at  Mahan's,  51 

Treat,  E.  D.,  came  to  county,  97 

Trees,  planting  of,  began  early  in 
Emmetsburg,  132,  133 

Tressler,  F.  W.,  came  to  county,  96 
Tribune,  Palo  Alto,  cited,  134  note 
Troug,  John,  Sr.,  came  to  county,  96 
Turner,  Frederick  J.,  "significance 
of  the  frontier  in  American  his- 
tory," 10  note 

Umposhota,  captures  prisoner,  30 
Underwood,  James  H.,  came  to  coun- 


ty, 83;  supervisor,  86;  elected  sup- 
erintendent and  coroner,  1865,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  clerk,  1866,  Ap- 
pendix A 

Union,  as  an  issue  in  the  Civil  War, 
74 

Union  church,  in  old  town,  118 

United  States,  soldiers  of,  protect- 
ing Indian  title,  12;  dragoons  at 
forts  for  protection  of  frontier, 
13;  troops  of,  march  through  Palo 
Alto  county,  14;  camp  on  shore  of 
Lake  in,  14;  cession  of  Indians' 
lands  to,  27;  mounted  troops  of 
after  Indians,  35 

Upper  Des  Moines  Bepuhlica)i,  cited, 
50  note 

Utter,  A.  W.,  editor  of  Pilot,  120; 
secretary  Des  Moines  River  R.  R. 
Co.,  141 

Valley  House,  hotel  at  old  town, 

115,  Appendix  D 
Vance,  E.  P.,  came  to  county,  95 
Vanderryt,  B,,  came  to  county,  96 
Van    Gordon,    P.    F.,    settled    near 

Graettinger,  102;  portrait,  88 
Vernon  Township,  settlers  in,  102 
Volunteers  from,  75 

Wagner,  Feed,  98 

Wagner,  John,  came  to  county,  96 

Walker,  F.  E.,  98 

Wall   Street,    137 

Walnut  grove,  camping  at,  19 

Walnut  township,  first  school  in,  55, 
100;   other  settlers  in,  101,  150 

Walsh,  John,  98 

Walsh,  Thomas,  came  to  county,  85, 
121;  elected  recorder,  1878,  Ap- 
pendix A;  elected  recorder,  1882, 
Appendix  A;  elected  recorder, 
1880,  Appendix  A;  elected  record- 
er, 1884,  Appendix  A 

Walsh,  Terrence,  98 


200 


HISTORY  OF  PALO  ALTO  COUNTY 


Walsh,  Robert,  98 

Warrants,  to  pay  for  war  substi- 
tutes, 75,  76 

Warren,   C.   S.,   came  to  county,  85 

Washington,  soldiers  reach,  75 

Water,  high,  on  prairie,  99 

Waucousta,  staging  at,  89 

Waverly  hotel,  built,  133 

Waverly  hotel,  128 

Wealth,  of  modern  Palo  Alto  county, 
156 

Webster  county,  60,  63,  67 

Webster  City,  news  of  massacre, 
stirs,  33;  relief  expedition  raised 
at;  officers  from,  33 

Webster,  H.  A.,  97 

Wells,  A.  A.,  gets  right  of  way  for 
railroad,  143,  150 

Wells,  George,  155 

Wells,  F.  H  ,  elected  recorder,  1902,' 
Appendix  A ;  elected  recorder, 
1904,  Appendix  A 

Wening,  M.,  came  to  county,  96 

Wessar,  G.,  98 

Wessar,  Philip,  98 

Wessar,   Theo.,   98 

West  Bend  settlement,  first  settle- 
ment at,  15,  15  note;  Carter  moved 
to,  16  note;  building  of  first  cab- 
ins at,  16;  West  Bend,  W.  D. 
Powers  settled  at,  20;  importance 
of  settlement  at,  21;  referred  to, 
42;  James  Linn  joins,  44;  some 
setlers  near,  44;  McCormicks  at, 
44,  45;  John  McCormick  arrives 
at,  45;  describes  early  experiences 
at,  45,  46;  school  at,  56;  voted 
for  Hickey  party,  64;  Carter  en- 
lists from,  75;  Jacobs  family  join, 
81,  85;  staging  at,  88,  89 

West  Bend,  town  of,  founded,  146; 
history  of,  146,  147,  148 

West  Bend  township,  Carter  settled 
on  Section  21  in,  16  note;  Mc- 
Farlands  settle  in,  43 ;  new  settlers 


after  war,  83;  new  settlers  in,  95. 
146 
West  Bend  house,  148 
Westward  movement,  description  of 

the  successive  stages  of,  10 
Whalen,  Michael,  came  to  county,  97 
Wheelock,  brings  news  of  massacre 

from  lakes,  32 
White,  Geo.  M.,  came  to  county,  96 
White,  E,  J,,  builds  house,  120 
White,  James  P.,  taught  first  school, 
55;    came   to   county,  83;    elected 
county  treasurer,   83,   84,   87,   88; 
storm  bound  on  stage,  89;   buying 
warrants,    93,    94;    candidate    for 
county  treasurer,   94,   113;    forms 
partnership  with  Shea,  115;  plays 
joke  on  Fitzgerald,  116;  publishes 
Bemocratj   119;   elected  treasurer, 
1865,    Appendix    A;    elected    sur- 
veyor, 1865,  Appendix  A;  elected 
treasurer,      1867,     Appendix     A; 
elected  treasurer,  1869,  Appendix  A 
White    &    Shea,    office    for    holding 

court,  92;   offi^ce  of  moved,  128 
Whitehead,  Charles  E.,  152,  153 
Whitman,  G.  V.,  came  to  county,  97 
Whitman,  Ward,  trapped  in  county, 
53;    vote   as   candidate   for   clerk, 
71 
Wilcox,  D.  M.,  came  to  county,  96 
Wild  fowl,  abundant,  24 
Wildey,  Leslie,  151 
Wiley,  William,  came  to  county,  97 
Williams,      Major     William,      takes 
charge  of  expedition  for  relief  of 
Spirit  Lake  people,  33;  takes  pre- 
cautions against   Indian   surprise, 
35;     secures    provisions,     36;     at 
Shippey's,    joins    command    after 
storm,  40 
Williams,  O.  O  ,  came  to  county,  96 
Williams,  James  E.,   elected  county 
attorney,  1906,  Appendix  A;  elect- 


INDEX 


201 


ed  county  attorney,  1908,  Append- 
ix A 
Williamson,  Ole,  came  to  county,  97 
Willis,  Charles,  came  to  county,  97 
Wilson,  J,  J.,  freight  line,  90 
Wilson,  T.  C,  came  to  county,  85 
Wisconsin,  43,   102 
Wisconsin  territorial  legislature,  62; 

journal  of  cited,  62  note 
Winnipeg,  142 

Women,  self  sacrifice  of  pioneer,  106 
Woodin,  Freeman,  98 


Wooley,  John,  98 

Yankton  Indians,  capture  W.  D. 
Powers  at  Devil's  Lake,  21 

Yeager,  C.  P.,  98 

Young,  Dr.  A.  C,  came  to  county,  97 

Young,  J.  C,  came  to  county,  97; 
statement  of,  cited,  97  note; 
moved  to  Emmetsburg,  97;  state- 
ment of,  cited,  133 

Zahn,  Geoege,  151 
Ziegler,  Charles,  153 


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